



Class 61 

Book 



i 



Copyrights 



iy~} 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



The 

Theory and Practice 

OF 

Working Plans 

(FOREST ORGANIZATION) 



BY 

A. B. RECKNAGEL, B.A., M.F. 

Professor of Forestry 
Cornell University 



SECOND EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED 
FIRST THOUSAND 



NEW YORK 

JOHN WILEY & SONS 

London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 
1917 



ml 



Copyright, 1913, ioi7>by 
A. B. RECKNAGEL 




press or 

BRAUNWORTH & CO. 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS 

BROOKLYN. N. V. 



ICI.A455883 
I 



PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION 

The reception accorded the first edition of this work has 
encouraged me to prepare a revised and enlarged second edition. 
In doing so I have profited from four main sources, not open 
at the time of writing the original text. 

The first of these is the work of the Committee on Termi- 
nology of the Society of American Foresters, which has gone far 
to standardize the nomenclature. It has been my privilege to 
serve as chairman of the sub-committee on Organization, 
Mensuration, and Management, and I have derived the greatest 
help from the hearty cooperation of my colleagues both within 
and without the Committee. The terminology of the second 
edition has thus been brought into accord with the best usage 
of to-day. 

The second great source of assistance is the helpful criticism 
engendered by the first edition. While it has not proved 
expedient to adopt all the suggestions, nevertheless, the faults 
noted have been corrected just so far as possible without de- 
stroying the originality and coherence of the work. In a text 
on forest organization, a detailed discussion of the application 
of silvicultural methods, of the pros and cons of various kinds 
of rotations and similar material of a general character does not 
seem in place, any more than would a didactic attempt to say: 
such and such a method of determining the cut should be used 
with such and such species, or forests. The time is not yet 
ripe for such generalizations; they must wait until the practice 
of forest management in America has advanced further than 
to-day. A new feature of this edition is the " Correlation of 
Silvicultural Methods and Methods of Determining the Cut," 
which is as far as the author feels justified in going along these 
lines. 

The third source of assistance has been the experience of 



IV PREFACE 

teaching forest management for the past four years. Nothing 
so quickly reveals the defects of a book as using it for a text. 
To this experience are traceable the new diagrams and the am- 
plification of the section on the normal forest and its attributes. 

Last but by no means least of the sources of assistance, has 
been the wealth of new data revealed in the forestry literature 
of the past four years. This has made it possible to diversify 
the examples used to illustrate the various methods of regulating 
the cut by introducing other species than the overworked 
western yellow pine of the first edition. 

Throughout, I have endeavored to revise and improve the 
original text so as to embody all the recent developments in 
forest organization. In doing so I have drawn freely on the 
work of my colleagues in the profession of forestry and I take 
this occasion to acknowledge my indebtedness. 

A. B. Recknagel. 
Ithaca, N. Y. 

Jan., 1917. 



PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION 

This book does not pretend to present any original theories 
of Forest Organization, but merely the best of European efforts 
along this line adapted to the present needs of American forestry. 
The necessary data were gathered in the course of a year's study 
abroad, and, in their application, the experience gained in five 
years of similar work for the forest service in various parts of 
the United States was constantly kept in mind. The theoret- 
ical part has, therefore, been reduced to the minimum; simi- 
larly, the description of such intensive methods of regulating 
the yield as that by area and volume in periods has been merely 
sketched for the sake of completeness, since its application to 
America is of the far distant future, if ever. In a word, while 
sacrificing nothing to the completeness necessary in a text- 
book, the aim has been to make the book of value not only to 
the student, but also to the practising forester, and hence theory 
has in each case been subordinated to practice. 

It will be ample reward for the time and labor spent, if this 
book takes its humble place in the growing list of American 
text-books on forestry. 

Grateful acknowledgment is made to those who so unself- 
ishly assisted in the collection of the subject-matter. 

A. B. RECKNAGEL. 

Dresden, September, 1912. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface to the First Edition v 

Preface to the Second Edition hi 

Introduction xin 

Scope of Working Plans x »' 

Sphere of Working Plans xiv 



PART ONE 

Foundations of Working Plans 
chapter i 

Preliminary Basis 

Section i. The Normal Forest and its Attributes I 

The Increment 3 

The Growing Stock 6 

Distribution of the Age Classes *4 

Section 2. Forest Survey 2 ° 

Preliminary Work 2 ° 

Survey of Area 2I 

Timber Estimates 22 

Requisites 22 

Base Lines 2 3 

The Strips 2 4 

Topographic Notes 2 7 

Time of Survey and Estimate 2 7 

Use of Yield Tables 2 8 

Cost 28 

Forest Description 2 ° 

Division of Area 37 

Designations of Divisions 39 

Boundaries of Divisions 4° 

Maps and Tables 42 

Stand Table 47 

Stock Table 48 

General Stand Table 5° 

Age Class Tables Si 

vii 



viii CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Section 3. Determination of Method of Treatment 53 

Governing Conditions 53 

The Unit of Regulation 53 

Object of Management 54 

Silvicultural Method of Management 55 

The Rotation 58 

CHAPTER II 

Regulation or Cut 

Definition 66 

Section 1 . Determination of Cut 67 

By Area (1) 69 

By Volume. Von Mantel's Method (2) 72 

Methode de Masson (3) 74 

By Current Annual Increment (4) (Swiss Method) 74 

Formula Methods: Austrian Formula (5) 78 

Karl's Method (6) 81 

Hundeshagen's Method (7) 85 

Breymann's Method (8) 86 

Heyer's Method (9) 88 

Summary and Comparison of the Formula Methods 91 

French Method (10) 92 

Indian Method (n) 98 

Diameter Class Method (12) 100 

By Area and Volume. MSthode du Contr61e (13) 106 

Direct Method (14) 108 

Hufnagl's Method (15) no 

The Stand Method (16) 112 

The Period Methods (17) 116 

American Method (18) 121 

Review of the Methods of Determining the Cut 1 24 

Correlation of Silvicultural Methods and Methods of Determining the Cut 1 26 

Section 2. Distribution of Cut 129 

Selection of Stands to be Cut 130 

Mapping of Stands to be Cut 131 

Cutting Series J 3 2 

Plan of Cutting *33 

General Cutting Plan 134 

Annual Cutting Plan 136 

Section 3. Regulation in Special Cases 137 

I. Regulation of Abnormal Forests 137 

II. Regulation of Transition Forests 139 

III. Regulation of Wood-lots 141 

IV. Regulation of Turpentine Forests 142 



CONTENTS ix 



CHAPTER III 
The Working-Plan Document 

PAGE 

Section i. Contents and Form 144 

1. Orientation 146 

2. Foundation 147 

3. Recommendation 150 

4. Regulation i$i 

Section 2. Outlines for Working Plan 152 

A. Prussian Outline. . •. 153 

B. Saxon Outline 154 

C. American Outline (suggested). Complete Forest Plan 155 

Section 3. The Planting Plan 159 

General Planting Plan 161 

Annual Planting Plan 162 

Section 4. Control and Revision of Working Plan 164 

Control Book 165 

PART TWO 
Practice of Working Plans 

CHAPTER I 

In Europe 

Section 1. Germany 171 

I. Prussia 171 

II. Bavaria 181 

III. Saxony 193 

IV. WiirUemberg 197 

V. Baden 198 

VI. Alsace-Lorraine 202 

Section 2. France 207 

Division of Area 208 

Method of Determining the Cut 209 

Distribution of the Periodic Cutting Areas 211 

Determination of the Allowed Annual Cut 212 

Section 3. Austria 213 

Division of Area 216 

Estimates and Forest Description 218 

Determination of the Cut 221 

Control and Revision of the Working Plan 222 

Section 4. Resume" 224 



X CONTENTS 

CHAPTER II 
In America 

PAGE 

Section i. Early Beginnings 226 

Section 2. Reconnaissance 227 

Current Outline for Forest Working Plans 228 

Section 3. Present Procedure 237 

Forest Plans 238 

Preliminary Plans 240 

Working Plans 244 

Annual Plans 247 

Outline for the Plan of Silvicultural Management 250 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Plate I. — Cutting Series and Compartment Lines in Spruce, Saxony. 

Frontispiece 

PAGE 

Plate II. — A Reconnaissance Survey Party, Florida 22 

Plate III. — A Reconnaissance Survey Camp, Florida 28 

Plate IV. — Fig. 1. A Compartment Reproduced by Shelterwood Cutting, 
Baden. Fig. 2. A Compartment Reproduced by Selection 
Border Cutting, Wurttemberg 56 

Plate V. — Road Forming a Compartment Boundary Line, Saxony 194 

PLArE VI. — A Burned Area, Forming a Subcompartment, Arizona 248 



Fig. 1. — Sketch Map of part of a Block, showing Compartments, Sub-com- 
partments, Age Classes, and Cutting Series 44 

Fig. 2. — Division of a Prussian Forest into Compartments 45 

7U 



INTRODUCTION 

Forest management may be broadly denned as the applica- 
tion of forestry in the conduct of the business of a forest. Forest 
organization, a subdivision of forest management, deals with the 
principles of organizing a forest for business. Forest organiza- 
tion may, therefore, be defined as that branch of forest man- 
agement which concerns itself with organizing a forest property 
for management, ordering in time and place the most advan- 
tageous use of the property, usually with the ultimate aim of 
securing a sustained yield.* 

In order to have a definite scheme for the conduct of opera- 
tions on a tract so as to secure most effectively the objects 
desired by the owner, a working plan is formulated. This may 
be defined as the plan or plans under which a given forest prop- 
erty is to be continuously managed. 

SCOPE OF WORKING PLANS 

In its broadest sense a complete forest working plan deals 
not only with silvicultural management of the timber resources, 
but may cover any or all of the following subjects: 

1. General administration. 

2. Silvicultural management. 

3. Grazing management. 

4. Permanent improvements. 

5. Forest protection. 

6. Uses of forest land. 



* The term forest regulation covers the same idea, but, since it suggests police 
and administrative prescriptions seems less desirable except for that part of 
organizing which concerns itself with regulating the cut. 

xiii 



XIV INTRODUCTION 

Since the prime object of any forest is the growing of timber, 
the silvicultural management is the most important; it is also 
the most difficult. The present work will, therefore, confine 
itself to this phase. 

SPHERE OF WORKING PLANS 

The working plan is not confined to such forests as are 
managed with the idea of a sustained yield,* but is equally 
adapted to the exploitation forest; i.e., forests which are to be 
logged within the next ten or twenty years. As in every other 
business the advantages of systematization are obvious; the 
working plan secures these advantages. At the same time it 
is usually to the interest of the owner to leave the tract in as 
favorable a condition as possible for future growth without 
the undue expenditure of time, timber, or money. The working 
plan secures this by so organizing the logging operations that 
the natural reproductive powers of the forest are brought into 
full play instead of being nullified by the fortuities of hap- 
hazard and often unnecessarily destructive logging. 

The sphere of forest organization therefore embraces all 
forests and is applicable to all classes of owners, large and 
small. 



* Sustained yield: the yield or cut of timber from a forest which is managed 
in such a way as to permit the continuous removal of an approximately equal 
volume of timber annually or periodically (equal to the increment). 



PART ONE 
FOUNDATIONS OF WORKING PLANS 



Foundations of Working Plans 



CHAPTER I 

PRELIMINARY BASIS 

SECTION ONE 

THE NORMAL FOREST AND ITS ATTRIBUTES 

At the very root of forest organization lies the idea of a 
normal forest; that is, a standard with which to compare 
an actual forest to bring out its deficiencies for sustained yield 
management; a forest with normal age classes, in size and dis- 
tribution, normal increment, and normal growing stock. 

Normal distribution of age classes requires that separate 
age classes exist which will mature during each year, or longer 
period, of the rotation, occupying areas whose yield will equal 
the same per cent of the total yield of the forest for the rota- 
tion as the period bears to the rotation. Thus, for a given 
decade in a hundred-year rotation, the area maturing should 
yield one-tenth of the yield of the forest during one hundred 
years. Normal age class distribution in the strict sense of actual 
location means such distribution of age classes as will permit 
annual or periodic fellings to be made without damage to 
adjoining stands. 

Normal increment is the best increment attainable by 
given species on given sites. 

Normal growing stock is the amount of material represented 
by the stands in a normal forest. 

Such a normal forest probably does not exist; it is merely 

1 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



a theoretical ideal towards which to strive. Assuming, there- 
fore, that every forest is more or less abnormal, it is necessary 
to determine the degree of abnormality in the following direc- 
tions: 

i. Increment. 

2. Growing Stock. 

3. Distribution of the Age Classes. 



Age in Tears 
AO 



Diagram A 
F 




Diagram showing that a Normal 



H50| 



Growing Stock (N V) ip possible even 
with Abnormal Distribution of the 
Age Classes for, if Normal Growing 



Stock is represented by t^. ABC, the 
corresponding Volume is equally 
attainable if one half the Area is 



stocked with stands«100 years old 
(BHEC), or if all the Area is stocked 
with s'tands 50 years old (ABGF). 



For the area of b^ ABC= 
area <j»f □ BHEC= 
area of E3 ABGF. 




BIOO^ 



G 
Volume 



In this connection it should be noted that while normality in 
1 and 3 of themselves result in normality in 2, the reverse is 
by no means the case. A normal growing stock may exist in a 
forest with only a single age class. Valuable as its determina- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 3 

tion is, therefore, it should never be used as the sole criterion 
of regulating the cut. This may be shown diagrammatically 
as on page 2. 

The Increment 

Increment (syn. accretion, growth) may be defined as the 
increase in diameter, sectional area, height, volume, quality or 
value of a tree or a stand. 

Three principal kinds of increment are distinguished: 

Volume increment is the increase in volume of a tree or 
stand. 

Quality increment is the increase in value per unit of volume 
due to its augmented intrinsic worth. 

Price increment is the increment in the sale value of forest 
products independent of quality increment, due to market con- 
ditions. 

Increment is further differentiated as current annual incre- 
ment = the increment for a specific year (abbreviation " C.A.I."). 
Periodic increment = the increment during a specified period of 
years; mean annual increment = the total increment divided 
by the age (abbreviation "M.A.I."); periodic annual incre- 
ment = the increment for a specified period of years divided by 
the number of years in the period, usually used in lieu of the 
current increment. 

The determination of the increment is the province of forest 
mensuration; without trespassing on this subject, so admirably 
covered in Mr. Graves' textbook,* it is worth while to consider 
the matter solely in its relation to forest organization. 

Not every method of regulating the cut requires the deter- 
mination of the volume increment; e.g., the Method of Von Man- 
tel or the Methode de Masson. Again, it is possible to regulate 
the cut by increment alone (Swiss Method). But most methods 
of regulating the cut require a determination of the increment. 

The normal increment is the increment of stands fully stocked 



* " Forest Mensuration," Henry Solon Graves. John Wiley & Sons New 
York, 1906. 



4 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

or normal. However, regulation of cut is based upon actual, 
not normal increment, hence actual increment becomes the basis 
of the normal forest. Where the real increment is to be taken 
from yield tables,* the values given in the table must be reduced 
by the actual factor of density, since yield tables are always 
for fully stocked stands. 

Where yield tables are not available, the increment must 
be determined on the ground, either by applying the increment 
per cent of representative trees of the stand, or else by calipering 
sample areas and figuring their increment by means of diameter- 
age and diameter-volume tables. The former (and yield tables) 
is better for nearly even-aged stands; the latter method for 
uneven-aged stands. 

Where diameter-age tables are lacking, stump analyses 
can be made. 

For determining current annual increment the use of an 
increment borer is deserving of wider popularity than it has 
heretofore enjoyed in America. Where no increment borer is 
obtainable, the representative trees, selected according to any 
of the standard methods (Draudt, Urich, etc.) can be cut into 
at breast height and the rings on the last inch of radius counted 
on the horizontal under-cut. Either Schneider's or Pressler's 
formulae may then be applied. 

Schneider's formula: 

p = ^—r (or 450 or 500 according as the height-growth of the 
nd 

tree is poor, average, or good), 

where p = the current annual increment per cent ; 

n = number of rings of annual growth in the last inch of 
radius; 
and d = diameter breast high, in inches. 



* Yield table: A tabular statement of the volume of a stand of specified char- 
acter per unit of area. This is usually constructed for units of one acre and 
for intervals of ten years. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 5 

The growth per cent must always be translated into figures 
of actual volume. For example: 

A spruce tree 28 inches in diameter at breast height, of 
average height-growth, shows 8 rings in the last inch, bored at 
breast height. The increment per cent according to Schneider's 
formula is 

4^0 
? = ^<8 = 2perCent - 

Assuming a stand of 2400 feet board measure per acre, the 
volume increment (current annual) would be, if this were a 
sample tree: 

2400 X 2 



100 
Pressler's formula: 



= 48 board feet per acre per annum. 



V — v 200 



where ^ = the current annual increment per cent, F = the vol- 
ume now, v = the volume n years ago, and n = the number of rings 
in the last inch of diameter. For example: 

A hemlock tree 18 inches in diameter at breast height, of 
average height-growth, shows an average of twelve years to 
grow the last inch in diameter. The volume of a hemlock 
18 inches d.b.h. is 230 board feet; of a hemlock 17 inches 
d.b.h. is 190 board feet.* The increment per cent accord- 
ing to Pressler's formula is 

230— 190 200 n 

p = — — — z -X— = 1.587 per cent. 
230+190 12 

Assuming a stand in which there were, on an average, .25 
hemlock trees 18 inches d.b.h. per acre, with a corresponding 
volume of 57.50 board feet per acre, the volume increment 
(current annual) would be, if this were a sample tree: 

57-5XI.587 



100 



.91 board feet per acre per annum. 



* Volumes based on U. S. Dept. of Agri., Bulletin 152, new series, Table 12. 



6 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

Pressler's formula is exceedingly valuable for regulating 
the cut in mixed, selection forests.* 

Whether the current annual or the mean annual increment 
is to be determined depends on the method of regulating the 
cut which is to be adopted. It is not usually necessary to deter- 
mine painstakingly the exact increment of each stand, but rather 
correctly to approximate the increment in each Working Unit — 
i.e., the unit area for which the cut is to be regulated; for it 
is evident that in comparison with the volume of merchantable 
timber the increment is a relatively small amount. It is a use- 
ful fact that in stands approaching maturity (not overmature) 
the mean annual and current annual increment remains vir- 
tually the same for about ten years ; since the former is simply 

the volume divided by the age ( — I , a simple way is thereby 

opened to approximate the current annual increment in 
mature, even-aged stands. 

Dr. Fernow in an article on " The Sciences Underlying 
Forestry," f points out that the mean annual increment per 

cent, culminates when it is equal to — , in which <z = age of the 

stand. This culmination occurs where the current annual 
increment curve crosses the m.a.i. curve. Current annual 

increment =—7 (Schneider), hence ^—r = or a = — . This 

nd nd a .4 

is a handy way to determine the age of maximum volume 

production. 

The Growing Stock 

Growing stock is a general term referring to the standing 
timber upon a unit of area. When used in relation to problems 
of management, it usually refers to the volume of standing 

* See " A Practical Application of Pressler's Formula," Forestry Quarterly, 
Volume XIV, No. 2. 

t Forestry Quarterly, Vol. VII. No. 1, pp. 23-33. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



timber, but it may also be used with reference to the density 
of stocking, age classes, etc. 

The normal growing stock (nv) is theoretically attained 
from normal age classes and normal increment, practically it 
results from normal age classes and actual increment. 

The actual growing stock (v) is that which is present on a 
given forest. This is obtained by timber estimating. 

The normal growing stock (nv) is obtained (i) by formula, 

(2) from yield tables. 

Diagram B 

A, , , , , , -, , , , 1 1 . i „B 

































n 

(1 































e 

CO 





© 
S3 


8 


e> 




00 









r a 




C-l 


CO 





I 

3 
O 
> 


U 
U 

< 


























O 

a 


: 


2 


2 


: 


: 


y, 


: 


: 


: 


'• 


: 


: 


3 


■6 
a 


: 


: 


r 


; 


>^S 


- 


: 


: 


; 


z 


: 


: 


to 


°? 


O 

O 







in 


©> 




CD 














© 








to 


co 


CO 


oT 




/^ ® 


a 


SB 


30 

8 


CO 


CO 
CO 


8 


CO 


05 
CO 




a 


b 


C 


d 


e 


/ 


g 


h 


i 


3 


fc 


I 


m 



j I 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 m 

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 
Age iu Years 

(1) The normal growing stock is expressed by the formula: 

ri 

nv = — 
2 

where nv = normal volume of growing stock, r = rotation, and 
i = the mean annual increment. 

(2) nv can also be determined directly from yield tables 
constructed by measurements of fully stocked stands. 

nv then equals nia-\-b-\-.c . . . +— ) 



8 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

where n equals number of years in each age class (step of the 
yield table) and a, b, c, . . . w = the volume per acre given 
in the table for each age class. 

The method and correctness of finding nv (i) by formula, 
(2) by summation from yield table, is illustrated on the accom- 
panying diagram (Diagram B). For the values as given in this 
diagram, which is based on a yield table for white pine con- 
structed by W. J. McCarthy, M. F., in the vicinity of Ithaca, 
N. Y., the normal growing stock would be as follows, assum- 
ing a forest of 1000 acres: 

i \ n 

(1) ra> =— ; 

2 

r = rotation = 140 years; 

i = mean annual increment per acre = 281.64 board feet; 

140X281.64 

nv=~- *-- - = 19,715; 

2 

19,715X1,000 = 19,715,000 board feet. 



(2) nv = nla+b+c 



m 
2 



n = number of years in each step of yield table = 10 
a, b, c, . . . are volumes per acre in each step 
of yield table; 

m is volume per acre at the rotation age (140 years) ; 

m,= 10(3580+8600+12580 ■ . . . +39A3CA 

, w 1000 2,996,950,000 , , . 

= 2,096,9 50 X = = 21,407,000 board feet. 

,vy ' y:> 140 years 140 

A further comparison of the two methods of determining the 
normal growing stock is given in the following table. These 
calculations are based on Hanzlik's yield table for Douglas fir 
as given in Forestry Quarterly, Vol. XII, No. 3, pp. 442-445. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



The rotations used were those given in table 6, p. 447 of the 
article cited. Premise: 100,000 acres of Douglas fir in western 
Washington. 

COMPARISON OF TWO METHODS OF DETERMINING nv 



Basis 

F. Q. XII, 3, 

pp. 442-5- 


Rotation 
Age (Yrs.) 


A. By Formula. 


B. By Summation. 




Cubic Feet 
Whole Stand. 


Board Feet 

Merch. 
Only.— M 


Cubic Feet 
Whole Stand. 


Board Feet 

Merch. 
Only.— M 


Per cent B 
is of A. 


Table 1 

Table 1 


52l 
no 

55 
no 

50 
115 


470,600,000 


5,500,000 
3,700,000 
2,9 3,750 


334,134,615 


4,161,400 
2,890,900 
1,979,451 


77.8 
75-6 
98.2 
78.1 
76.8 
68.1 


Table 2 
Table 2 . . 


404,250,000 


397,000,000 


Table 3 
Table 3 

Average . 


282,500,000 


216,900,000 






79 -i 







1 For B it is necessary to find even decade values and then take proportional part of the 
difference. 

From this table one might conclude that the formula values 
should be reduced by 20 per cent, i.e., multiplied by .8, since 
summation is undoubtedly the more accurate method of the 
two. 

Many authors have busied themselves with the problem 
of how to determine the normal growing stock most accurately 
and have suggested certain departures. Thus Flury * claims 

that the formula, nv = — to be more generally correct, should 
2 

read: 

nv=cXrXi, 

in which c is a variable constant. To determine this constant, 
normal yield tables are necessary which may be summed up 
by the formula 

nv = nia-\-b-\rC . . . -\ — )=S, 

* Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen, March, 1913, briefed For. Quart., 
Vol. XIII, No. i, pp. 108-113. 



10 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

then, since c X r X i = S, 



c = 



rXi 



Flury has calculated c for the chief species of Europe and for 
various rotations as shown in the following table. These values 
are for timberwood only. 

AVERAGE VALUE OF CONSTANT c 



Species 



Spruce. Swiss foothills 

Swiss mountains 

Prussia 

Fir. Wurttemberg 

Baden 

Scotch pine. North German Plains 
Prussia 

Beech. Switzerland 

Prussia 



Rotation in Years. 



60 



371 
316 
268 

205 
226 

387 
374 

276 
219 



80 



463 
392 
354 

267 
317 

454 
456 

34i 
316 



453 
434 

308 
384 

5°3 
525 

405 
379 



508 
519 

359 

437 

536 
596 

467 
428 



Applying Flury's constant c to McCarthy's white pine 
yields as given above, the factor is as follows: for rotation of 
30 years, ^ = .306; for 40 years, .365; for 50 years, .378; for 60 
years, .421; for 70 years, .452; for 80 years, .475; for 90 years, 
.493; for 100 years, .507; for no years, .518; for 120 years, 
.525; for 130 years, .536; and for 140 years, .542. 

Thus the value for 140 years given above as 19,715,000 
board feet would be corrected as follows: 

nv = cXrXi = . 542X140X281. 64 

= •542X39,430X1000 (acres) = 21,371,000 board feet, 

which compares closely with the value 21,407,000 board feet 
found by summation of the yield table. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



11 



It is obvious that where the constant c is approximately 
.5 the error in finding nv by the formula method is least, since 

ri 

nv = — = .$XrXt. 
2 

It is also obvious that finding c and using it in the formula 
is more correct than applying a general reducing factor such as 
found in the case of Douglas fir above. 

To further illustrate the workings of c the average value of 
c has been found by and applied to the white pine yields as given 
in table 6, Bulletin 13, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, new series, 
for site quality II, i.e., medium site quality. The values by 
formula, with and without use of c and by summation of yield 
table are also given. 

AVERAGE VALUE OF CONSTANT c IN WHITE PINE, SITE QUALITY II 
Based on Table 6, U. S. Dept. Agric. Bull. 13, N. S. 



Rotation (Years). 



40. 

50. 

60. 

70. 

80. 

90. 
IOO. 
no. 
120. 
130. 
140. 



Average. 



.227 
.280 

•33° 
.368 

•399 
.426 

•449 
•465 
•484 
.506 

•549 



nv =n{a -\-b 



nv =c Xr Xi. 



Difference 

betw. Last 

Two 

Columns. 



Feet, Board Measure, per Acre. 



11,750 


5,337-5 


18,300 


10,280 


23,450 


15,525 


28,050 


20,764 


32,000 


25,588 


35.450 


30,239 


38,500 


34,6io 


41,600 


38,745 


44,050 


42,654 


45,750 


46,280 


47,050 


51,604 



5,334-5 
10,248 

15,477 
20,644 

25,536 
30,203 

34,573 
38,77i 
42,650 
46,299 
51,660 



3 
32 



52 
36 
37 
26 

4 
19 
56 

39-4 



Note. — Values over one hundred years from prolonged curves. 

The value of Flury's constant in finding the normal growing 
stock is evident since, as Flury says,* " the normal growing 

* Grosse und Aufbau des Normalvorrates im Hochwalde, Mitteilungen der 
Schweiz. Centralanstalt fur das forstliche Versuchswesen, XI, 1, 1914, pp. 97-148. 



12 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

stock is the best, most pregnant, numerical expression of sus- 
tained yield management. To attempt an approach to normal 
stock conditions in some way, must be the aim of the manager 
for sustained yield." 

Munger * has devised a formula for determining normal 
growing stock in selection forests. Munger conceives of the nor- 
mal growing stock as consisting of the reserve left after cutting 
multiplied by the area, plus one-half the growth which take place 
on the entire forest for the entire cutting cycle. Expressed as 
a formula: 

nv= h reserve for the entire forest, 

2 

where i = the current annual increment on the entire forest and 
cc = the cutting cycle (period between cuts). 

Example: If for 50 acres i = 5000 board feet, cc = $o years, 
that is, I of the 200-year rotation, and reserve = 200,000 board 
feet, then 

iXcc , 

nv = + reserve 

2 



200,000 
2 



_ 5000X50 ! 
2 

2150,000 , 

= — ^—^ h 200,000 

2 

= 325,000 board feet for the entire 50 acres 

= 6500 board feet per average acre. 

Using the formula nv=— and the same premises nv would 

2 

figure out as 10,000 board feet per acre. 

* Proceedings Society of American Foresters, Vol. X, No. i, pp. 18-21. The 

325,000 

example which Munger gives on p. 20, is for 50 acres since = 6500. 

5° 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 13 

Munger's formula is undoubtedly well adapted for selec- 
tion forest. 

Fischer * has suggested the following modification of the 
formula for normal growing stock when applied to reproduction 
cuttings : 



nv 



= (initial gr. stock -(-final gr. stock) X— — — X.' 



The last figure varying according to the crown density. 

For example: A pine forest which contains, on one acre, 
14,600 board feet at rotation age (160 years) is cut by shelter- 
wood method so that 66 per cent of the volume is removed 
during a twenty-year period of reproduction, whereby the density 
is reduced to .5. Substituting: 

20 

nv = (14,600+4818) X— X.5 
2 

= io,4i8XioX.5 

= i94,i8oX-5 

. 20 
= 97,090 for — years 
2 

= 9709 board feet for any one year, per acre. 

By formula: 

, .14,600 
. 160 X— ^ — 
ri 160 , , , 

nv = — = = 7300 board feet per acre. 

2 2 

TIT T \ 

Strzeleckis proposed f to figure nv=-\V — I — Vr) where 

2\ 2 2 / 
T 

V- = volume at \ rotation age and Vr = volume at rotation age. 



* Allgemeine Forst- und Jagd-Zeitung, March, 1914, pp. 100-102, briefed 
For. Quart., Vol. XII, No. 2, pp. 279-280. 

t Allgemeine Forst- und Jagd-Zeitung, 1884, p. 88, p. 316. 



14 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

Using the data in McCarthy's yield table for white pine, 
and a rotation of 140 years, 

ra>=-^-( 23,780+^^-) =3,044,657 board feet, 

but this is for 140 acres, 

for the average acre- ' 57 = 21,748 board feet 

140 

per acre, which compares well with nv by yield tables, i.e., 
21,407 board feet per acre. 

Distribution of the Age Classes 

All the trees in a stand or forest whose age falls within stated 
limits are spoken of as being in the same age class. Age classes 
are usually divided in twenty-year periods, but in old stands 
may be of wider range. Age classes are stated in extent of 
area or in percentage of the whole stand; in selection forest 
in terms of number of trees. A stand where the ages of the 
majority of the trees fall between twenty-one and forty years, 
would, for twenty-year age classes, be referred to as being in 
" Age Class II." 

In the selection forest, diameter classes take the place of 
age classes. A diameter class is a grouping of the trees of a 
stand on the basis of diameter, the intervals varying usually from 
1 to 4 inches, fractions being rounded off to the nearest full 
inch of the limit. For example, with a 3-inch limit all trees 
from 22.6 to 25.5 inches in diameter would be assigned to the 
24 -inch class. The diameter classes may be stated by numbers 
of trees in each class on the unit of area or by the percentage of 
the total contents of the stand represented in each, or by area 
occupied or in any other way. 

Distribution of age classes refers to either the local dis- 
tribution of age classes (Verteilung der Altersklassen) or the 
percentic or absolute representation of the different age classes 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



15 



in area or amount, or (in selection forest) in number of trees 
(Altersklassenverhaltniss) . 

Similarly, distribution of diameter classes in its strict sense 
means the location and area of each stand of a given diameter 
class in the forest. In a general sense it means the per cent 
of area occupied by each diameter class in the forest. 

Diagram C 




2 4 6 8 10 
13 579 



A table or diagram showing the proportion or amount of 
each age class in the forest is called an age class record. This 
may be expressed in percentages or in actual area. Similarly, 
there may be a diameter class record. 

The correct distribution of the age classes is theoretically 
like a series of equal sized steps, growing higher along the 



16 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

prevailing storm direction. However, this theoretical ideal is 
never achieved; it suffices that each age class has an approxi- 
mately equal representation on the area which is to have a 
sustained yield; in fact, without a fairly even distribution of 
the age classes sustained yield on a given area is impossible. 

Twenty years is commonly taken as one age class, though 
sometimes ten and sometimes thirty-six years is used. In any 
case the rotation must be a simple multiple of the age class. 
It is customary to number the age classes from I up, beginning 
with the youngest.* Thus for an eighty-year rotation there are 
four age classes of twenty years each; a fifth age class would 
contain all stands older than r (the rotation). 

It is of the utmost importance to get some conception of 
how the age classes are distributed. 

In even-aged stands or stands even-aged in groups, the age 
may be determined by finding the average tree (any of the 
standard methods) and then getting the age from stump 
analysis or boring to the center at breast high with an incre- 
ment borer, or from diameter-age tables (if available and 
applicable!). 

Where stands are fairly even-aged, but conditions are too 
extensive to permit the exact assignment to definite age classes, 
the general classification into 

O overmature (more than rotation age) ; 

M mature (of rotation age down to \ thereof) ; 

Y young (from lowest age to \ rotation) 

will serve the purpose. 

The selection forest, of course, has all age classes inextricably 
intermingled. But where the age differences are not to exceed 
| or j of the rotation, the stand can be classified according to 
its average age, or, more exactly, according to the proportion 
of space each age occupies. For example: 320 acres of spruce 
might contain 160 acres of trees seventy years old, 100 of trees 

* In Prussia this is reversed, I. is the oldest age class. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 17 

sixty years old, and 60 acres of trees only forty years old. The 
average age here would be 61 years; for: 

160X70+100X60+60X40 , 

— =61 years. 

320 

Where, in uneven-aged forest, the age classes are so inter- 
mingled that they cannot be distinguished by area but only 
by volume (from the diameter-classes in the estimates), the 

average age = the ; e.g., if the uneven-aged forest 

increment 

has three main age classes: 

100 year class with 2000 feet board measure 
60 1200 

50 800 

., ., ,, , 2000+1200+800 

then the average age would be = 71.4 years. 

2000 1200 800 

100 60 50 

Prof. Chapman of Yale has suggested a method of dividing 
the total volumes by the total number of trees, then finding 
the d.b.h. and height which, in the volume table, corresponds 
to this average volume and determining the average age from 
stump analysis, increment boring, or growth table. This 
method applies only to the merchantable classes. 

The normal selection forest would show the following dis- 
tribution of ages by area: 

E.g., 900 acres of selection forest with a rotation of 150 years 

and a cutting cycle of 30 years would normally contain -^- = 5 
age classes as follows: 

Trees 



1- 30 years 


old 


900X30 
150 


= 180 acres 


31- 60 






= 180 


61- 90 






= 180 


91-120 






= 180 


121-150 






= 180 






Total, 


900 acres 



18 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

A convenient way to express the age limits and average age 

in an uneven-aged stand is by the expression where, in 

7 1 
the example above, the age varies from 50 to 100 years and the 
average has been determined as 71 years (strictly 71.4 years). 
Where the average age has not been arithmetically determined 
the approximate age figures will, at least, serve as a valuable 

guide. Or even the letters O, Y, M may be used, e.g., 

would be a stand Mature to Overmature with the average 
Overmature, i.e., in excess of the rotation age. 

Nor should it be forgotten that certain species, such as fir 
and spruce, often withstand decades of suppression during which 
their growth is almost nil. In determining their age this " core 
of suppression " should, therefore, be disregarded. 

Areas that are being regenerated by shelterwood methods 
fall into two age classes, divided according to what remained 
of the original stand. For example, a shelterwood cutting 
in a ninety-year old stand covering 200 acres of which only 
40 per cent of the stand remained uncut would be apportioned: 
80 acres to the higher-age class and 120 acres to the lowest or 
to the " blanks " jf no reproduction was on the ground. Where 
less than 20 per cent of the original stand remains on a cutting 
area or burn and the density of stocking is less than .3 and there 
is no reproduction the area, is temporarily at least, classed 
with the " blanks." 

The age classes are differentiated by species only if there is 
a marked difference in their value. 

There are two graphic ways of comparing the actual with 
the normal distribution of the age classes. One is by plotting 
the normal and the actual area of each age class on cross- 
section paper, using the ordinates for age and the abscissae for 
area. The normal distribution will, of course, be a straight 
line; the actual a zigzag, now rising above, now falling below 
the horizontal line of normality. 

The other method is that of rectangular blocks, the 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



19 



normal age classes being equal-sized and placed next to the 
unequal blocks showing the actual size of the various age 
classes. 

It is always of advantage to compare the real and the normal 
age-class distribution; for it is a criterion of a sustained yield 

Diagram D 











1 


MINI 




















































Diagram shoeing the ijfoi 


mala 


co- 












































Actual Distribution of Age C 


asses 


in 














































a glv^n 


forest. 




























> 


orma 


D 


St I 


ibutk 


n 






















































































































25,000 






25,000 






25,000 






25^000 






















































































































































































_0-20^ 






21-40 






41-60 






til 


80 
















A 


?eCla 


ss 




Acreage 


























































1-20 






26,290 


























































2lJ40 






22,039 
























































4160 






29,337 




















Act 


X'd\ 


Di 


stributio 


n 






























22,3& 














































































100,000 
















































Total 


Acreage 
























































26,290 






22,039 




29, 


137 






22, 


i'.il 
























































































































































































0-j20 






21-40 






41-60 






61 


SI) 






Acres 
30,000 




























































































































































Norjnal IMst 


ributipn 






































2j,000 
























L-"i^ 






































20,000 




















Actua 


1 Dis't 


: ibution 






































1 
















20 














40 














60 












, 80 




















1 










Age 


in Years 
I i i. 






















1 1 



and, in conjunction with the increment, determines the degree 
of approach toward a normal forest. 

Note. — For a consideration of the value of the growing stock of a normal 
forest, see Roth: " Forest Valuation," Ann Arbor, Mich., 1016, pp. 65-70. See 
also, by the same author, " Normal Forest and Actual Forest, Normal Growing 
Stock and Actual Growing Stock, Normal Stand and Actual Stand," Forestry- 
Quarterly, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 154-162. 



20 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

SECTION TWO 

FOREST SURVEY 

By forest survey is understood the gathering and tabula- 
tion of all data in regard to forest lands, including plane and 
topographic surveying, mapping, timber estimates, forest 
descriptions, grazing data and land classification, type and site 
determination, involving all the work of every kind (including 
the construction of volume, growth and yield tables) neces- 
sary for the making of the working plan.* 

Here again forest organization touches upon the domain 
of forest mensuration and, in part, of engineering. Hence only 
the salient points affecting the working plan will be treated. 

Preliminary Work 

Before the field work is begun, all available data should be 
gathered from the records, along the following lines: 
i. Area and boundaries of forest. 

2. Best existing estimates of timber. 

3. Approximate distribution of species. 

4. Salient topographic features. 

5. Past cuttings and their results; stumpage prices. 

6. Classes of material utilized; prices obtained; market con- 

ditions. 

7. Previous working plan or previous silvical studies; vol- 

ume, growth, or yield tables. 

8. Best maps available. 

Armed with these data, the forest organizer should then 
make a preliminary trip over the forest so as to gain a general 
familiarity therewith and the better to formulate his plan of 



* Forest surveys may be partial or complete, more or less intensive or exten- 
sive. A preliminary, extensive forest survey is often called a reconnaissance. 
This term may be applied to include one or more of the items constituting a com- 
plete forest survey. The term " intensive reconnaissance " is essentially con- 
tradictory in its component parts. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 21 

campaign. Wherever possible, he should be accompanied by 
the owner, the administrator, or both. 

A conference should always be had between the owner or 
administrator, or both, and the forest organizer. The wishes 
and objects of the owner are basic in outlining a plan of silvi- 
cultural management and determine what data are requisite and 
what degree of detail is necessary in securing these data. The 
permissible cost of field work should also be decided. It is well 
if the results of this conference are put in writing and the docu- 
ment signed by each of the participants. 

Survey of Area 

A good map is an essential part of every working plan. 
The map need not be elaborate, but it must be accurate. 

Where the land involved has not been surveyed, this must 
form a part of the field work, though it can often be done in 
conjunction with the estimating. In every case, it involves 
at least the retracement of the principal land lines and their 
fixation on the ground and on the map. Especial attention 
must be given to the boundary lines. 

It is very serviceable to post boundary and interior corners 
with fire warnings, or similar placards, in pathless forests. These 
are most helpful in indicating the position of corners, especially 
if they are stamped with rubber stencils and indelible ink to 
show what corner it is. Thus, where the land is sectionized, the 
section corner would be posted and perhaps also where an im- 
portant section or township line crosses a much-traveled road 
or trail. The object is to make the results of field surveys or 
retracement of old survey lines available not only on the map 
but on the ground. 

The extent to which topography should be shown depends 
on the uses of the map. Where a detailed plan of logging is to 
be included, the topography must be shown in detail. For 
purposes of ordinary forest organization it suffices to show all 
drainage, all roads and trails, all houses, barns, and other " cul- 
ture," and the topography in contours of ioo-foot interval 



22 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

sketched in from aneroid barometer traverses.* In level country 
contours serve no useful purpose. In the matter of topography 
the object is to get a good working medium for orientation and 
for the subsequent division of the area. 

The scale of the map must depend on the size of the area, 
the wealth of detail, and the intensity of the proposed manage- 
ment. Ordinarily a scale of i or 2 inches to the mile for the 
general map is quite sufficient. Where the forest is very large 
it is well to have a small scale location map, and then larger 
scale maps showing the various parts of the forest in greater 
detail. 

No survey of the area — and no forest map — is complete 
which does not include a delineation of the forest types. This 
is usually done in conjunction with the estimating, but its 
importance must be emphasized here. Simplicity in type 
distinctions is essential for clearness. Only those type differ- 
ences should be recognized which are sufficiently striking to 
be recognized instantly by every trained eye. Ordinarily, per- 
manent types alone should be regarded, but often transitory 
types — e.g., aspen on old burns — must be recognized, since they 
demand a different treatment. Minor differences should never, 
for the purposes of a working plan, be made the basis of type 
distinction. 

The mapping of all cut-over or burned areas, of swamps, 
barrens, etc., is a part of every forest survey. 

Timber Estimates 

Requisites. — Without encroaching on the subject of forest 
mensuration, the requisites of the timber estimates for purposes 
of the working plan are: 

1. Amount and species of timber. 

2. Class of timber (saw timber, cordwood, etc.). 

* The topographers of reconnaissance parties of the U. S. Forest Service 
prefer the Abney hand level to the barometer for any work except the making of 
very rough maps. See " The Abney Hand Level and the Chain on Intensive 
Forest Surveys," C. R. Anderson, For. Quart., Vol. XIII, No. 3, pp. 338-343- 



PLATE II. 



A Reconnaissance Survey Party, Florida. 



[To face page 22] 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 23 

3. Condition of timber (soundness). 

4. Approximate age of timber. 

For purposes of combining the survey with the timber esti- 
mate, the strip method of estimating is undoubtedly the best. 
From a definite base line — such as a section boundary or, if in 
unsurveyed or very rough country, a base line previously run 
out — the strips are run out at right angles, at definite inter- 
vals. 

Base Lines. — The section line serves as an excellent base, 
especially in fairly level country. Rough topography or the 
lack of suitable survey lines as a base make it necessary to es- 
tablish base lines in advance of the actual estimating. They 
should be located in valley bottoms, along roads, or elsewhere 
so that they can be easily retraced; at the same time they give 
a preliminary topographic control. The distances must of 
course be measured accurately either by chain or tape or by 
stadia. The use of stadia — involving a mountain transit or 
a telescopic alidade — is advisable only in fairly open country 
or for the primary base lines. The chain or tape is much 
handier in timbered country; pacing is not accurate enough for 
this purpose. 

Beginning at some known point, or at least tied thereto by 
definite triangulation, the base line system is developed over the 
whole forest like the stem and branches of a tree. The number 
of base lines must depend on the intensity of the work; better 
fewer and accurate than many and slipshod. 

A traverse board and open-sight alidade are excellent for 
base-line work unless the timber is too dense; then chaining alone 
is possible, and the notes must be plotted not only upon return 
to camp, but immediately, in the rough, so as to determine 
where the equidistant strip stations are to be established. 
For the base line traverse will necessarily be a zigzag and the 
strip stations must be exactly equidistant. They are usually 
marked with a stake and a pile of stones or a blaze, scribed or 
blue-penciled with the number and the elevation of the station. 
For purposes of identification it is well to place the station close 



24 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

to some road, trail, stream, or other topographic feature. The 
elevation is determined by aneroid barometer readings carried 
from some point of known elevation. Where transit or telescopic 
alidade or a clinometer is used it can also be determined by the 
vertical angles. The crossings of all roads and trails, of creeks, 
etc., are noted, either directly plotted on the traverse board 
or else entered in the note-book; the elevation at these crossings 
is also noted. 

If the forest is so large that the estimating will require several 
seasons, only so much of the base-line work need be completed 
in advance as will be used in that season. However, base-line 
work can often be done to advantage several months before the 
detailed estimates are begun. 

Wherever possible, the forest organizer should himself be 
in charge of the base-line work. Three men constitute the 
ordinary base-line crew; two will suffice at a pinch, though it is 
better to have two to chain and one for the traverse board or 
to enter notes, take aneroid readings, etc. 

The Strips. — The estimate strips should always run across 
the topography; only in that way will average conditions be 
secured. The size of the crew depends on the method of esti- 
mating employed. The ordinary strip survey crew consists 
of two caliper men, and a head and a rear chainman. The 
former runs the compass, the last named takes notes on topog- 
raphy and elevation and enters the diameters breast high as 
called out by the caliper men. Each strip is usually one chain 
wide. 

Where the strip is not chained, the crew can be reduced to 
three, or even two, the compassman to pace and keep notes, 
two (or one) to caliper. 

Where trained men are used, calipering is seldom necessary; 
here two men — one to pace and keep notes, one to estimate 
diameters — suffice . 

In open timber the strips can be widened to one chain on 
each side of the line. 

One man can run a strip, but he can scarcely manage com- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 25 

pass, aneroid, note-book, and estimate all at the same time. 
Either he must make an ocular estimate of the whole stand or 
else confine himself to quarter-acre (or similar sized) sample 
areas at definite intervals. Only in cases of need is this sample- 
area method advised; it is usually better economy to use a 
two or more man crew. The work goes better, and is more 
accurate, the men check each other's judgment and, finally, 
in case of accident, the single man is not left helpless. 

The strips must gridiron the forest. The interval between 
the grids depends on the purpose of the work. For a reliable 
estimate 5 to 10 per cent of the area should be covered.* This 
means : 

For 5 per cent of area: chain- wide strips 20 chains apart. 

For 5 per cent of area: strips two chains wide, 40 chains 
apart. 

For 5 per cent of area: j-acre sample areas, 2\ chains apart 
on strips 20 chains apart. 

For 10 per cent of area: chain- wide strips 10 chains apart. 

For 10 per cent of area: strips two chains wide 20 chains apart. 

For 10 per cent of area: J-acre sample areas, 2\ chains apart 
on strips 10 chains apart. 

A very practical way of recording the estimates is by 2 or 
3 -inch diameter classes, beginning with the smallest merchant- 
able diameter, supposing this to be n inches, as follows: 

* Margolin in an article on " Errors in Estimating Timber," For. Quart., Vol. 
XII, No. 2, pp. 167-176, says: 

" Assuming that the method of estimating is correct and it is carefully applied, 
a s per cent estimate will give fairly satisfactory results for an area not less than 
about 1500 acres. A 10 per cent estimate may give fairly satisfactory results 
for an area as small as a section in extent, but for smaller areas than that even a 
10 per cent cruise is not very reliable. Where more detailed estimates are desired 
more intensive cruises are essential. The practice of making 5 per cent or even 
a 10 per cent cruise and then giving out the estimate by 40-acre units is inaccurate 
and misleading and should be discontinued, especially so since such a detailed 
estimate seldom serves a useful purpose. 

" The greater accuracy obtained by a 10-per cent cruise over a 5 per cent 
cruise is entirely out of proportion to the difference in the costs, and it appears to 
be good business, therefore, to make the more intensive cruise, especially where 
detailed figures are desired." 



26 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



D. B. H. 


SPECIES 


inches 


Pine 


Spruce 


Fir 


Etc. 


12 










15 




18 




21 




24, etc 




Poles 








Seedlines 









Seedlings are all trees under 5 feet in height; these are usually 
counted on a quarter-acre circle at the end of every ten chains 
or so, to supplement the notes on reproduction.* 

Saplings are from 5 feet in height to, say, 6 inches diameter 
breast high. 

Poles are over, say, 6 inches diameter breast high up to the 
minimum merchantable diameter. Poles and saplings are 
usually counted and tallied just like the larger timber. 

While the strip estimates, in combination with volume 
tables, usually give more accurate results than an ocular esti- 
mate, the greater expense of the former and the longer time 
required to cover a given area often decide in favor of the latter, 
especially where a rough estimate suffices and data on diameter 
classes are not requisite. 

Various methods of ocular estimating have been devised; 
for purposes of forest organization the method of reconnaissance 



* The Society of American Foresters recognizes the following tree classes: 

Seedling: a tree, grown from seed, not yet 3 feet high. 

Shoot: a sprout, not yet 3 feet high. 

Small sapling: a tree from 3 to 10 feet high. 

Large sapling: a tree 10 feet or over in height and less than 4 inches d.b.h. 

Small pole: a tree from 4 to 8 inches d.b.h. 

Large pole: a tree from 8 to 12 inches d.b.h. 

Standard: a tree from 1 to 2 feet d.b.h. 

Veteran: a tree over 2 feet d.b.h. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 27 

estimating practised by the Federal Forest Service since 1907 
is probably the best.* 

Topographic Notes. — Besides the timber estimating, it is 
a valuable feature of all strip surveys that the opportunity is 
offered to get excellent data on topographic features. 

The estimator or tallyman carries an aneroid barometer 
and notes the elevation at each stream, divide, or similar feature; 
also at each corner to which he ties. Streams, ridges, roads, 
trails, etc., are sketched by him in a suitable note-book so as 
to show the exact point at which these features were crossed 
and their trend for a short distance to either side of the survey 
line. The same method applies to burned and cut-over areas. 
The boundaries of these and of the forest types should be noted 
where they are crossed and their trend for a short distance to 
either side of the survey line. These data should be sketched 
in on blanks or note-books provided for the purpose. 

Time of [Survey and Estimate. — The " field season " — i.e., 
that season when field work can be accomplished with the 
minimum of climatic difficulties — is usually the best for the work 
of estimating and mapping. In mountainous countries and in 
northern latitudes, this means the summer months; in southern 
latitudes winter is often preferable because of the excessive 
summer heat. Even in mountain regions the winter season may 
sometimes be chosen because the forest personnel is usually less 
heavily burdened with work in winter than in summer. That 
winter work is entirely feasible, if snowshoes or skis are used, 
is demonstrated by the winter reconnaissance in certain mountain 
forests of California, f One advantage of winter work is the 
ease with which the compassman's tracks can be followed by 



* For detailed description see " The New Reconnaissance," Proceedings 
Society of American Foresters, Vol. IV, No. 1. Reprinted Yale Publishing 
Association, 1909. See also, for practical workings, cost, etc., " The Progress of 
Reconnaissance," F. Q., Vol. VIII, No. 4, pp. 415 to 418. 

t See " Winter Reconnaissance in Californian Mountains," R. F. Hammatt, 
F. Q., Vol. IX, No. 4, pp. 557-562. Also " Winter Reconnaissance in the 
Rocky Mountains," G. Z. Mason, F. Q., Vol. XI, No. 4, pp. 516-518. 



28 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

the cruisers and used by them as a check on the width of the 
estimating strips. 

Use of Yield Tables. — The estimating of timber by means 
of yield tables unfortunately finds little or no application in 
America because of the lack of suitable tables. Yield tables 
are constructed for even-aged fully stocked stands of a single 
species for various site qualities. The age is usually given in 
five- or ten-year intervals. European yield tables are separated 
for final and intermediate yield (thinnings) and total. Normal 
yield tables preponderate, but local (empirical) yield tables are 
used as makeshifts. The methods of making yield tables is the 
province of forest mensuration, but for purposes of forest organ- 
ization the data should comprise: Age, number of trees per acre, 
basal area, d.b.h. of average tree, height of average tree, yield per 
acre, current and mean annual increment, for each site quality. 

The use of yield tables requires the determination in the 
field of the following data (presupposing nearly even-aged 
stands): Age, site quality,* density of stocking. f The corre- 
sponding value for the age and site quality is read directly from 
the yield table and this multiplied by the factor of density 
(i.o to o.o). Where there are several species in the stand, 
the percentage of each is determined and the corresponding 
value in the various yield tables multiplied thereby; these 
values are then added and their sum multiplied by the factor 
of density (i.o to o.o). 

Cost. — The cost of estimating (field work only) averages 
between the following figures: 

Ocular estimates i to 2 cents per acre 

2^-per cent strip estimates 2§ to 5 

5-per cent strip estimates 5 to 10 

10-per cent strip estimates 10 to 15 

* Site quality is most accurately gauged by the height of the trees. See 
Roth: " Concerning Site," Forestry Quarterly, Vol. XIV, No. 1, pp. 3-13. 

t The density or degree of stocking is most accurately gauged by considering 
it as = area of cross-section of trees of the stand divided by normal area of cross- 
section (basal area). See Roth: " Forest Regulation," Ann Arbor, Mich., 1914, 
pp. 54-56. 



PLATE III. 




A Reconnaissance Survey Camp, Florida. 

[To face page 28J 



the theory and practice of working plans 29 

Forest Description 

It is of the utmost importance for the working plan that 
the silvical data secured in gridironing a forest be made a matter 
of record. In order that the observer may put down his observa- 
tions while they are fresh in his mind it is well to provide a 
note-book or blanks with appropriate headings, such as those 
in the following outline: 

Outline for Forest Description 

i. Locality. Name of tract or owner, township, county, 
state. (Govt. Survey give Sec, T., R., and M.) 

2. Situation and altitude. Reference to mountain, ridge, road, 

stream, camp, trail, etc. Elevation above sea level. 

3. Boundaries and area. Adjoining property. 

4. General topography. 

a. General character — level plain to steep mountain. 

b. Percentage of level land, gentle slopes, steep slopes, etc. 

c. Height of the hills above the neighboring streams. 

d. Drainage. 

5. Slope and aspect (aspect = exposure). 

a. c lope. 

Level o to 5% o to 3 

Gentle 5 to 15 3 to 8.5 

Medium 15 to 30 8.5 to 16.5 

Steep 30 to 50 16 . 5 to 26 . 5 

Very steep 50 to 100 26. 5 to 45 

Precipitous over 100 over 45 

b. Aspect, eight principal points of the compass. 

6. Underlying rock, outcroppings ; the quantity and size of 

boulders. 

7. Soil. 

a. Physical composition: gravel, sand, loam, clay and 
intermediate forms; also the amount of organic matter, 
and possibly of lime. 



30 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

b. Depth: Very shallow less than 6 inches 

Shallow 6 to 1 2 inches 

Moderate 12 to 24 

Deep 24 to 36 

Very deep over 36 

c. Color and consistency (light, binding, stiff, etc.) 

d. Soil moisture: 

Wet: when water drips from a piece held in the hand 
without pressing. 

Moist: when water drips from a piece pressed in the 
hand. 

Fresh : when no water drips from a piece pressed in the 
hand, though it is unmistakably present. 

Dry: when there is little or no trace of water. 

Very dry: when the soil is parched. Such soils are 
usually caked and very hard, sand being an excep- 
tion. 

e. Agricultural value. 

8. Forest floor (the deposit of vegetable matter on the ground 

in a forest). 

a. Litter (the upper, only slightly decomposed portion of the 

forest floor). Deep, moderate, scant, etc. 

b. Humus (the portion in which decomposition is well 

advanced). Give the depth in inches. 

9. Ground cover (all small plants growing in a forest, except 

young trees; such as ferns, mosses, grasses and weeds). 
Specify as herbaceous, woody, grass, ferns, moss, etc., 
and state amount. 

10. Underbrush (all large woody plants, such as laurel, striped 

maple, witch-hazel and devil's club, which grow in a 
forest but do not make trees). 

Note. — Undergrowth includes ground cover, underbrush, seedlings, shoots, 
and small saplings. 

11. Reproduction (trees less than 10 feet high, from sprouts 

or from self-sown seeds). State whether the repro- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 31 

duction is from seed or sprouts; for each of the prin- 
cipal species give the approximate age, size, amount, 
condition and occurrence of the reproduction (by 
occurrence is meant in groups or singly, on raised 
ground or in depressions, on decaying logs, etc.); 
mention which species are most productive. 
12. Stand (all growing trees in a forest or in part of a forest). 

a. Forest types, the topographic location of each, and the 

approximate proportion of the total area occupied 
by each. (A forest type is a forest or a part of a 
forest possessing distinctive characteristics of composi- 
tion or habit of growth.) 

b. Composition: leading species, associated species, nature 

of mixture (singly or in groups); give approximate 
percentages of the leading species. 

c. Origin: seedling, sprouts. 

d. Density of crown cover (density of the crowns of the trees 

in a forest) ; it is usually measured by the extent to 
which the ground is shaded; express in decimals. 

e. Age: calculated from stumps or by judgment; approx- 

imate range of average ages, or age classes. Age 

class I, one to twenty years; II, twenty-one to forty 

years, etc. 
/. Diameter and height development: (I) general range of 

the breast-high diameters and of the heights of the 

larger trees, e.g., 8 to 14 inches, 70 to 90 feet. (II) 

Are the various tree or size classes well represented? 

The tree classes are : 
Seedling — a tree grown from seed not yet 3 feet high. 
Shoot — a tree not yet 3 feet high grown from a sprout 

(sprout = a tree which has grown from a stump or 

root). 
Small sapling — tree from 3 to 10 feet high. 
Large sapling — a tree 10 feet or over in height and less 

than 4 inches d.b.h. 
Small pole — a tree from 4 to 8 inches d.b.h. 



32 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

Large pole — a tree from 8 to 12 inches d.b.h. 
Standard — a tree from 1 to 2 feet d.b.h. 
Veteran — a tree over 2 feet d.b.h. 
g. Form of trees: long or short boles; clear or limby; 
straight or crooked. If saw timber, the number of 
sawlogs (16 feet long) per tree and per M. feet, 
board measure. 
h. Condition: health, and apparent vigor of growth. 

13. History of the stand: treatment by man; damage by fire, 

grazing, insects, diseases and atmospheric agents. 

14. Merchantable condition of the trees. Reductions for 

defect; per cent of probable output of different grades 
of lumber. 

15. Site class (forest-producing power of the locality). Use 

five grades, I, II, III, IV, V. I is best site. Should 
express the capability of the tract rather than the pres- 
ent production. 

Note. — Many American authors use only three grades, I, II, and III, I being 
the best site and III the poorest site. 

These subjects need not be treated exhaustively; the forest 
description must, above all, be practical and brief. 

The unit of area in forest description depends, of course, 
on the degree of intensity possible in the working plan. The 
ideal unit of description is the stand. The stand is that portion 
of the forest which is so essentially different in forest type, in 
method of management, in component species, in age, in density 
of stocking, or in quality of site, that is clearly distinct from the 
surrounding forest. The stand as a unit of forest description is 
ideal, since it is at the same time the true unit of silviculture 
and forest organization. But the necessity of pushing the 
reconnaissance work and the size of the working plan area often 
makes it more feasible to confine the description to the survey 
unit — such as the section — or to an entire watershed (in unsur- 
veyed and very mountainous country), leaving it to the forest 
organizer to combine the various descriptions and smooth 
out their differences and discrepancies into a general forest 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 33 

description for the working plan. At the same time the forest 
organizer is helpless if these specific forest descriptions are 
inadequate or inaccurate. Nor need the description contain 
many words; for mere stereotyped repetition is both tiresome 
and futile. 

The outline given above for forest description must, of course, 
be supplemented by a report on logging and milling methods 
and costs if an appraisal of stumpage values is to be a part of 
the working plan. The following outline is suggested: 

Lumber: 



I. Stump to pond. 




(a) Logging operations with equipment 


used 


i. 


Felling, limbing and sawing into 


logs. 


2. 


Brush disposal. 

a. Piling. 

b. Scattering. 

c. Dragging from trees. 




3- 


Skidding or bunching. 




4- 


Hauling to railroad. 

a. Big wheels. 

b. Wagons. 
6". Go-devils. 
d. Sleighs. 






e. Steam skidders (several types). 




/. Electricity. 




5- 


Loading on cars. 

a. Horse power. 

b. Steam power. 




(b) Transportation to mill. 




i. 


Trucks. 




2. 


Chutes. 




3- 


Flumes. 




4- 


Railroads. 




5- 


Tramways. 




6. 


Traction engines. 





34 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

7. Sleighs. 

8. Streams — driving. 

9. Ponds— hot and cold, 
(c) Logging administration. 

1. Camps. 

2. Commissary. 

3. Labor. 

4. Supervision. 

5. Scaling. 

6. Animals. 

II. From pond into cars. 

(a) Milling and equipment by types of mills. 

1. Sawing. 

a. Hoisting logs from pond to mill deck — scal- 

ing. 

b. Steam nigger. 

c. Log carriages (shot gun or cable feed) . 

d. Saws (sash, gang, circular or band) . 

e. Re-saw. 

/. Saw filing. 

2. Edging. 

3. Trimming. 

4. Conveyor system. 

5. Power. 

6. Transmission. 

7. Electricity (lighting system). 

8. Hog. 

9. Refuse burner. 

(b) Yarding by types of mills. 

1. Grading and grading rules. 

2. Conveying from grading table to piles in yard, or 

kiln. 

3. Dry kilns — types, etc. 

4. Loading on cars. 

(c) Planing. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 33 

(d) By-products, 
i. Lath. 

2. Shingles. 

3. Boxes. 

(e) Milling administration. 

1. Supervision. 

a. Mill. 

b. Office. 

2. Labor. 

a. Mill. 

b. Office. 

Ill From cars to consumer. 

1. Methods of selling. 

2. Transportation. 

3. Markets. 

Hewn railroad ties: 

1. Specifications. 

2. Cutting. 

3. Hewing and peeling. 

4. Delivering. 

Telephone poles: 

1. Specifications. 

2. Cutting and peeling. 

3. Delivering. 

Fence posts and stays: 

1. Specifications. 

2. Cutting and peeling. 

3. Delivering. 

Mining timbers: 

1. Kinds and specifications. 

2. Cutting and peeling. 

3. Hauling to cars. 



36 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

4. Transportation. 

5. Markets. 

Cordwood: 

1. Specifications. 

2. Cutting and stacking. 

3. Hauling. 

4. Loading on cars. 

5. Transportation. 

6. Markets. 

7. Supervision and labor. 

Cooperage stock: 

1. Specifications. 

a. Heading stock. 

b. Stave material. 

2. Felling and making bolts. 

3. Disposal of brush. 

4. Hauling bolts to mill and piling in yard. 

5. Manufacture of staves and stacking in yard. 

a. Heading. 

1. Sawing. 

2. Sorting. 

3. Stacking. 

b. Staves. 

1. Equalizing. 

2. Sawing or " bucking.' ' 

3. Listing. 

4. Grading. 

5. Stacking. 

6. Transporting staves to railroad. 

In addition to logging and milling methods and costs, the 
logging conditions should be summarized for each logging unit, 
that is for each part of a forest which can conveniently be made 
the basis of an individual logging operation. The following 
headings, taken from the outline on pp. 222-225 of Chapman's 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 37 

" Forest Valuation," John Wiley & Sons, N. Y., 1915, will be 
found useful for this purpose.* 

A . Modification of logging required by silvicultural demands. 

1. Amount and character of merchantable timber to be 

left standing. 

2. Methods of brush disposal and precautions required, 

for protection of young timber. 

B. General conditions affecting appraisal. 

1. Market value of lumber. 

2. Size of mill and cost of milling, with profits. 

3. Cost of main transportation system. 

C. Specific conditions affecting appraisal. 

1. Specific costs of logging the unit. 

2. Specific appraisal of value of standing timber per unit 

of log scale. 

D. Appraised value of standing timber, by species, for 

specific units of product, modified for overrun to 
apply to standing timber. f 

Division of Area 

In order to facilitate the management of a forest, it is sys- 
tematically divided into units of area. A forest may be divided 
from various points of view into units, either localized in the 
field, or differentiated in the working plan, or both. 

The division of area for purposes of forest organization is 
in Europe considered the prerequisite of any working plan. 
For the extensive conditions prevailing in many parts of America 
the elaborate divisions of area used in Europe can well be 
waived. Indeed it is conceivable that a useful working plan 

* More detailed outlines for studies of lumber operations have been pub- 
lished by the Yale Forest School (Prof. R. C. Bryant), and by the N. Y. 
State College of Forestry at Syracuse University (Vol. XVI, No. 7.) 

t For detailed methods of determining the value of merchantable standing 
timber, see Chapman: "Forest Valuation," Chapter XI; also Roth: "Forest 
Valuation," Chapter VI; also, " Manual of Stumpage Appraisals," U. S. Forest 
Service, November, 1914. 



38 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

could be constructed without any systematic division of the 
area. The need for these divisions grows with the refinements 
in management, and while it would be mere play in most Amer- 
ican forests to mark each compartment and subcompartment 
in the map or on the ground, a skeleton outline of the salient 
divisions will often serve to facilitate and to systematize the 
working of a forest. Unnecessary divisions must be avoided. 

For these divisions topographic features, roads, trails, etc., 
should be made the boundaries; even in flat country the hewing 
through of compartment lines is justified only under most 
intensive conditions. 

The customary subdivisions of a forest are: 

The working unit (syn. working plan unit. Ger. Wirt- 
schaf tsganzes) . 

The working group (syn. management class, working block, 
working circle, working section, Ger. Betriebsklasse). 

The block. 

The compartment. 

The lot or subcompartment. 

These may be defined as follows: 

Working Unit. — The forest area managed under an indi- 
vidual working plan and by means of the plan of regulation of 
the cut, usually with the idea of a sustained yield. It may or 
may not coincide with an administrative unit. 

Working Group. — A unit of forest organization, comprising 
an aggregate of compartments or stands to be managed under 
the same silvicultural method and rotation. 

Block. — A major division of the working unit, being a per- 
manent land subdivision in the forest, intermediate in size 
between the working unit and a compartment. A block is 
usually based on topography, such as the whole or portion of a 
drainage, containing from iooo to 100,000 acres. 

Since the division of a block is usually topographic, a suit- 
able local name can generally be taken from some salient topo- 
graphic or cultural feature contained therein. 

Compartment. — A unit of forest organization for purposes 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 39 

of orientation and silvicultural operation. It is a permanent sub- 
division. It may or may not coincide with the public land sur- 
vey. There may be an indefinite number of compartments in a 
block. The limits of a compartment are rectilinear in the plains 
and follow topographic features in hill and mountain country. 
The area of a compartment varies with the intensity of manage- 
ment and seldom exceeds 500 acres.* In a forest under com- 
plete management, the compartment boundaries are shown on 
the forest maps and are permanently marked on the ground 
by blazed lines, durable monuments, posting, roads, trails, 
streams or other well-defined natural features. 

The compartment is created for purposes of easier orienta- 
tion in the woods and for facilitating and systematizing the keep- 
ing of detailed forest records. Where the boundaries of com- 
partments are hewn out or made into roads, these serve the addi- 
tional purposes of fire lines, logging roads, points of attack in 
cutting series, and as convenient units where game is beaten 
from cover. f 

The Forest Service apparently favors the use of chance or 
logging chance in place of compartment. This is a term in 
common local use, more or less synonymous with logging 
unit. It is not favored as a term in forest management. 

Lot or Subcompartment. — A permanent or temporary sub- 
division of the compartment based upon differences in stand, 
necessitating a different method of silvicultural treatment. 
An example of permanent subdivision is the case of swamp in 
the midst of pine land. An example of temporary subdivision 
is the case of a severe burn in the midst of uninjured, mature 
forest. 

Designation of Divisions. — Working units and blocks are 
given names: compartments are numbered; subcompartments 

* Roth: " Forest Regulation," p. 38, says: " It is feasible even in high moun- 
tain districts to stay below 200 acres in the average size of the lot." 

t Hence in the plains, e.g., in the Prussian pineries, the compartment is called 
a " Jagen " i.e., a " hunting." The average size in Prussia is 25 hectares = 6i * 
acres. 



40 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

are lettered; e.g., a paper-birch thicket in midst of spruce 
compartments on the lower slopes of Mount Tecumseh block 
in the Waterville, N. H., basin, would be designated as 29a, 
Tecumseh Block, Waterville Unit. 

Boundaries of Divisions. — Before designating the boundaries 
of any working-plan divisions, either in the field or on the map, 
the forest organizer, in consultation with the owner and the 
administrator of .the forest, or both, should decide just what 
divisions are to be made and on what basis. The determination 
of working units is a sine qua non, but whether blocks, com- 
partments, and subcompartments are also to be segregated 
depends entirely on the specific needs of the forest. Large 
forests should almost always be divided into blocks. The 
further subdivision into compartments and subcompartments 
is necessary only where intensive working plans are practicable. 

Having decided just how far to go in the matter of divisions, 
the forest organizer keeps this in mind during his preliminary 
reconnaissance and during the entire progress of the field work. 
The details of forest description and the unit described depend 
on the extent of subdivision. That is, if blocks are the minimum 
divisions possible, the organizer needs only the briefest descrip- 
tions by sections or other survey units and a more detailed gen- 
eral description by watersheds or other appropriate units. 
If, on the other hand, the refinements of compartments and sub- 
compartments are possible the unit of description must be the 
stand, and the forest description of each stand must be suffi- 
ciently detailed so that the forest organizer can determine 
therefrom whether to make it a subcompartment, and its func- 
tion in regulating the cut. 

Obviously, therefore the provisional boundaries of the 
minimum unit of division decided upon must be noted in the 
progress of the forest survey and noted on the map. 

As the work of gathering the data progresses, the forest 
organizer keeps always in mind the possible division of the 
forest and, map in hand, goes through the area to determine 
its most advantageous arrangement. His task will be the 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 41 

easier if the forest description data are well and carefully 
gathered. 

Where artificial lines are cut through, those running with the 
prevailing storm direction are called, in Germany, " Haupt- 
Gestell " (Main Frame) or " Wirtschafts streifen " (Manage- 
ment Stripe), those running at right angles thereto, " Neben- 
Gestell " (Accessory Frame) or " Schneussen " or " Schneisen." * 
The former average 15 to 30 feet in width, the latter 6| feet 
to 15 feet; in this way they serve as a network of logging roads 
and fire lines. The " Schneisen " serve also to strengthen 
the stand against windfall; for along them develops the " wind- 
mantle " — i.e., the crowns of the trees on the border form an 
impenetrable mantle and protect the interior of the stand from 
windfall. This is especially important in spruce and similar 
shallow-rooted species. As the lower branches show signs of 
dying off, the strip is widened so as to let in the necessary addi- 
tional light and keep the wind mantle intact, until it reaches a 
maximum width of 30 or 40 feet. These "Schneisen" are 
then made the points of attack for the cutting series, f since the 
stand to leeward of them has through its wind mantle ample 
protection against the storms. 

Block divisions are always natural and are chosen on a large 
scale — watersheds, drainage basins, are suitable units. The 
single block may contain many thousand acres; its shape is 
immaterial; the governing considerations are logging and mar- 
ket conditions. The block is usually a main logging unit or 

* In Prussia the " Hauptgestelle " are 700 to 800 yards apart; the " Neben- 
gestelle " are 350 to 400 yards apart. 

t Cutting Series. — A cutting series or felling series is an aggregation of stands 
into a proposed or actual sequence of felling areas — that is, areas on which 
cutting operations are being conducted or areas designated for cutting. The 
object of such a series is a distribution of felling areas for administrative reasons 
or to secure a final satisfactory distribution or location of age classes, especially 
to avoid damage by windfall and insects due to uniformity of stand and size of 
felling area. It is intended to interrupt a regular sequence of age classes. It is 
quite generally used abroad in spruce to prevent windfall and pine to prevent 
insect damage. 

It is not used in broadleaf forests or in any selection forest. 



42 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

group of logging units. Its segregation requires a complete 
knowledge of such matters as present market conditions, lines 
of transportation, outlets for the timber, and the probable 
changes and developments in all three. 

How far, if at all, the blocks should coincide with the admin- 
istrative divisions, such as ranger districts, must depend on local 
conditions. It is often convenient to have block and ranger 
district coincide, and in level country, such as the Prussian 
pineries, this is entirely feasible. But the purposes of admin- 
istrative division are so different from those of the working plan 
that the coincidence should never be secured at a sacrifice of 
either forest administration or forest organization. 

The boundaries of blocks and subcompartments need not 
be marked on the ground. Compartments must be marked 
on the ground by blazed lines, durable monuments, posting, 
roads, trails, streams or other well-defined natural features. 
A convenient way is stencilling the number of the compartment 
in white paint on the bark of a tree nearest to the corner thereof. 
Where the lines are not actually cut through, their intersections 
with roads, trails, streams, etc., should be similarly designated. 
Where road or trail or stream itself serves as the boundary, 
this is not necessary, but merely corner monuments or occasional 
guide-monuments are placed. 

On the map the boundary of the working unit is marked 
by heavy dot and dash — . — . — .— ; the blocks by dashes 

; the compartments by a dotted line 

; and the subcompartments by a thin 

unbroken line . 

References. — Roth, " Forest Regulation," pp. 34-43, Illick, " The Subdivision 
of Forests," F. Q., Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 183-198. 

Maps and Tables 

The various data collected in the field should, as far as 
possible, be entered on maps and summarized in tables. In 
this way they are made available at a glance. 

Maps, or, at least, some map of the forest, however crude, 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 43 

are indispensable in forest organization. The forest map 
should contain: 

(a) Essential topographic features; contours are seldom 
necessary in level country; hachures are not ordinarily advis- 
able. 

(b) Roads and trails, railroads, houses, barns, and other 
" culture." 

(c) Boundary (exterior) of the forest; also all other interior 
holdings by other owners. 

(d) The forest types; also all burns and cut-over area; 
all barrens and all land under cultivation or pasturage (non- 
forest land) within the exterior boundaries. 

a, b, c, and d may form one base map, or they may be made 
into separate maps as the wealth of detail necessitates or con- 
venience dictates. Where the area is too large to be shown com- 
pletely on one map of ordinary scale (^ or i inch to the mile), 
a small scale location map can be made and as many large scale 
detail maps as are desired. In surveyed country a separate map 
of each township, compiled from section sketches, is advis- 
able. 

Armed with this base map the forest organizer sketches in 
from survey notes, detail sketches, and forest description the 
following additional points: 

(e) Provisional division of area into 

Blocks, 

Compartments, 

Subcompartments, 
all depending on the divisions previously decided upon. Where 
the forest is approximately even-aged and the method of regu- 
lation is to consider age classes, these should be entered on the 
map by writing the age class of the subcompartment in Roman 
numerals, and coloring or shading it accordingly. Barrens 
and treeless land are left blank. Often the organizer must 
go over the area, map in hand, in order to settle some uncer- 
tainty on the ground. The boundaries had best be sketched 
only in pencil. If the original maps are made on tracing linen 




SKETCH MAP 

OF PART OF A BLOCK 

SHOWING THE ARRANGEMENT OF 

COMPARTMENTS, SUBCOMPARTMENTS, 

AGE CLASSES AND CUTTING SERIES. 



LEGEND 

'= BLOCK BOUNDARY 
= COMPARTMENT NUMBER 
= COMPARTMENT BOUNDARY 
= SUBCOMPARTMENT LETTER 

=SUBCOMPARTMENT BOUNDARY 

■"*■ =PROGRESS OF CUTTING SERIES 
35 =AGE OF STAND 
AGE CLASSES 

YEARS 



1-20 
I 


21-40 
II 


41-60 
III 


61"80 
IV 


OVER 

V 


blanks 






ll 











Fig. l. 



44 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



45 



or on thin bond paper, blue-prints, or, still better, Van Dyke 
copies can be used for this provisional division of the area. 
This provisional map quite suffices until the final working- 



f I I — I — r 
1000 



Scale 1:25000 

-i— r— i 



1000 Meters 
20 Meters contour interval 




Fig. 2. — Division of a Prussian Forest into Compartments. 
(After Schilling.) 

plan document is prepared, when the maps may be elaborated 
as much as is desired. E.g., the age classes can be shaded or 
colored, the type colored or symbolized, etc. 



46 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

The prevailing local storm direction is entered (where it is 
not known already it must be determined; in a mountainous 
region the storms often follow the direction of the main drain- 
age) by means of long dotted arrows (see Fig. i). 

The next step is to obtain the areas of the various divisions, 
types, alienations, etc. This is most easily done by means of a 
planimeter. One decimal place usually suffices. The larger 
areas are always measured first — e.g., the blocks before the com- 
partments — the sum of the smaller divisions, e.g., of compart- 
ments, should check with the area of the larger unit (block) 
containing them. Minor errors can be proportioned. Roads, 
streams, boundary lines which have been cut through, etc., are 
seldom calculated as separate areas unless they are excessively 
wide, e.g., more than 20 feet. 

Tables are now drawn up to contain these and other data 
which can be summarized. These may be: 

(a) Stand Table. — A tabular enumeration showing separately 
for each diameter class and species, the number of trees on a 
given unit of area, usually an average acre. The corresponding 
volume may or may not be given. 

Obviously, this form of table is most useful in the uneven- 
aged forest. The following example of such a table is taken 
from Bulletin n of the N. Y. State Conservation Commis- 
sion,* based on virgin stands of hardwoods in the Catskill 
Mountains. 

(b) Stock Table. — A tabular enumeration showing separately 
for each diameter class and species, the volume of timber upon 
a given unit of area, usually an average acre. 

This form of table is best adapted to the uneven-aged forest. 
It serves as an excellent basis for computing the estimates, 
by simply multiplying the values given in the table by the 
total acreage. The following example of such a table is taken 
from Bulletin n of the N. Y. State Conservation Commission.! 

* Bulletin 11, " Forest Survey of a Parcel of State Land," Albany, N. Y. 

1015- 
t Ibid. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



47 



Example of Stand Table 

Slope Type. — Average number trees per acre based upon 
84.86 sample acres. 



D. B. H. 
Inches. 



Bal- 
sam. 



Hem- 
lock. 



Beech. 



Birch. 



Maple. 



Ash. 



Bass- 
wood. 



Miscel- 
laneous 



Total. 



9 

10. 



13- 
14- 
IS- 

16. 

17- 

18. 
19. 
20. 
21 . 
22. 
23- 

24- 
25- 

26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 

31- 

32- 

33- 
34- 
35- 
36. 
37- 
38. 
39- 
40. 



■35 



.06 

.07 
.06 



Total . . . 
Per cent. 



•73 
9 



93 
3.62 



3i-°7 
38.35 



95 

79 

5i 
14 
32 
24 
06 

17 
15 
13 
94 
69 
67 
61 
55 
47 
54 
44 
Z9 
21 

19 
09 
09 

1 1 
06 
04 
01 

04 



24-50 
3024 



13-84 
17.08 



2-55 
3*5 



04 



2-97 
3-66 



•78 
.64 

-36 

• 24 
.18 

• 14 

.07 



2.42 
3.00 



12 


■ 79 


10 


■35 


8 


•32 


7 


.96 


5 


•77 


6 


.12 


5 


14 


4 


•25 


3 


•45 


3 


21 


2 


64 


2 


07 


1 


59 


1 


21 


1 


13 


1 


00 




81 




So 




63 




48 




35 




3i 




13 




12 




13 




09 




07 




03 




04 




01 




01 







48 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



Example of Stock Table 

Slope Type.— Average volume per acre based upon 84.86 
acres, board feet. 



D.B.H. 

Inches. 



9- 
10. 

11 . 

12 . 

13- 

14- 
IS- 
16. 

17- 
18. 
19. 
20. 



23- 

24- 

'5- 
26. 
27. 
28. 
29. 
30. 
3i- 
32- 
33- 
34- 
35- 
36. 
37- 
38. 
39- 
40. 



Bal- 
sam. 



4-55 

3-78 

i-74 
2-73 
1 .06 

.65 



Hem- 
lock. 



Total 
%• 



Beech. Birch. Maple. 



14-51 
25 



6.80 

6.41 
12.18 
17.98 
24.09 
28.83 
26.68 
21-45 
I5-48 
18.36 
22.23 
20.51 
13.60 
7.78 
I7-56 
19.68 

2715 
11.86 



14 -5° 
38.25 



8.85 



10.05 



403.08 
6-73 



220.78 

238.05 

200. 22 

200 . 40 

126.63 

92.84 

57.60 

44.00 

28.26 

17-95 
8.28 

4-73 
10.66 

7-13 



i,257-53 
21 .00 



73-i6 
100. 
146.25 
167 .90 
184.19 
174.84 

149 • 73 
167.50 
181. 17 
181.05 
170.61 
209.52 

I79-5 2 
169. 26 
58-7o 
95-95 
49 05 
529 
68.09 

38 -94 
27. 16 

7.09 
29.56 

7-6c 

8.29 



2,698.84 
45 05 



Ash. 



59-94 

85.68 

89.46 

98.82 

117.68 

101.43 

122.96 

76.50 

87-73 

92-51 

95-58 

84.04 

45- 10 
38.70 

48.95 

32 . 20 

19.00 

9.80 

5-05 
15.6c 
16.00 

5-5c 



1,348.23 
22.52 



Bass- 
wood. 



4.9c 
II .04 

8.19 



3-45 
8.00 



Miscel- 
aneous. 



12 .6c 
II .04 

9-3 6 
16.06 

10.38 
23.10 
20.32 
17.70 

24-15 
20.00 

5-20 

23.40 



9- 5c 



56-73 
•95 



202.81 
3-38 



5.8: 
I-I5 



Total. 



6.96 



II . 


35 


10. 


l 9 


13- 


92 


20. 


7i 


25 


15 


29 


48 


403 


87 


469 


11 


468 


96 


5°7 


3° 


469 


76 


416 


92 


366 


75 


313 


48 


342 


32 


339 


19 


301 


62 


315 


35 


271 


48 


207 


96 


129 


28 


166 


40 


68 


•05 


72 


. 22 


81 


99 


54 


•54 


43 


.16 


22 


.64 


29 


•56 


7 


.69 


8 


.29 







5,988.69 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 49 

(c) Area tables (by types, by divisions of area). 

(d) Age-class table {comparison with the normal). 

Any or all of these tables may be constructed as the data warrant 
and as there is occasion for them. An age-class table is neces- 
sary only where the distribution of the age classes plays a part 
in the regulation of the cut. 

Tables (a), (b), and (c), together with abbreviated notes 
on site, density, age, and salient silvical characteristics, can be 
combined into a general stand table, that is, a tabulation 
showing something of the condition of the stand on the several 
units of area. Only the more important items respecting the 
stand are included, such as merchantable and total volume 
by classes of material (sawtimber, cordwood, ties, etc.), species, 
age, stock density, etc. Such a table is usually supplemental to 
map records. It is compiled from the forest description and 
from the stand and stock tables of individual units of area. 
The particular form which this table takes should be varied 
to meet the needs of the working plan in question. The pur- 
pose is to give the essential data for the regulation of the cut; 
these essential data vary with the method of regulation which 
is chosen. In the example the table has been made as complete 
as is necessary even under intensive conditions. The hypo- 
thetical data would have required a correspondingly intensive 
forest survey. 

These data will be required for only those forests which 
permit of an intensive management. However, the same form 
of table, with minor modifications, applies to even the most 
extensive conditions. For example: 

If the estimate and description is by survey units, e.g., by 
sections, quarter-sections, or even forties, the arrangement of 
the columns would be varied so that Col. 2 would be town- 
ship and section, Col. 3 the quarter-section or forty, Cols. 5, 
7, 9, n, 13, and 15 would give the area, not in acres, put in per 
cent of total, Cols. 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, and 16 would usually indicate 
the age only as Over-mature (O), mature (M), or young (F). 
Cols. 23-29 would usually be recorded separately for each type. 



50 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

If the estimate and description are lumped for the entire area 
of one type within the same watershed, Col. 2 would be the 
name of the type, Col. 3 would be blank, Cols. 5 to 22 inclusive 
would be as in the paragraph above, Cols. 23 and 26 would be 
very general, Cols. 24 and 25 would fall away, but Cols. 28 and 29 
would be retained. 

From the above data, a rough age-class table can, and, for 
all methods of regulating the cut by the distribution of the age 
classes, should be constructed. Assuming in the hypothetical 
data of the general stand table above that the rotation is 160 
years, the form of age-class table would then be as follows: 
See Age-Class Table A. 

In the above example if only the symbols " 0," " M" and 
" Y " are used, the comparison would be as in Age-Class 
Table B. 

Were the intermediate steps O/M and Y/M used also to 
designate the approximate age of the stands, the table would 
read as in Age-Class Table C. 

Note. — In addition to the maps and tables listed, status records are often 
desirable. These are records showing the ownership of lands. Complete status 
records will show in detail the chain of title for each parcel of land and also all 
servitudes and easements attaching to the land. In addition, they usually show 
the location and extent of all qualified or temporary alienations such as unpatented 
mineral claims, leased areas, or lands otherwise specifically under permit or 
affected by outstanding contracts, as for the sale of timber, etc. Status records 
usually consist of sets of maps, often called " tract books," and of written or 
tabulated records supplemental to the map records. 



.ACRES 



22 23 



24 



neons 
oods 



25 26 



DESCRIPTION 



27 



Cds. 



Pure, 

Mixed 
Kind of 
Mix- 
ture 



8o 



F. 
P. 

P. 
P. 
M. 

singly 
P. 

M. 

singly 
P. 

P. 
P. 

M. 
Grps. 



Den- 
sity of 
Stock- 
ing 



Site 
Qual- 
ity 



28 29 



INCREMENT 



I.O 

•9 



.6 



I.O 

•5 



I 

I-II 

IV 

II 

IV 

III 

III-IV 

III 

II-III 
II-III 

II 



Young 
Growth 

suffr 
cient to 

Re- 
stock? 



Yes 
No 

Yes 
No 
Yes 

Half 

No 

Half 

No 
Yes 

No 



Remarks 



Thrifty 



Mature 

Grnd. fire 

Mature 

Old burns 
Decadent; 

fire scars 
Bad shape 

old burn 



Curr. Annual 



% 



Vol. 



i-5 

i-7 

I. 

I. 

I. 

•5 
•7 
•5 



3-4 


M. 


74 


M. 


7-3 


M. 


9-5 


M. 


9.0 


M. 


5-5 


M. 


6-3 


M. 


2-5 


M. 



8 cds. 
2.J M. 

,2M. 



GENERAL STAND TABLE, WORKING UNIT, AREA. 



.ACRES 



1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 


11 


12 


13 


14 


15 


16 


17 18 


19 


20 


21 


22 


23 


24 


25 


26 


27 


28 


29 


DIVISION 


AREA 


STAND 




DESCRIPTION 


INCREMENT 




Compt. 
(No.) 


Sub- 

compt. 

(ltr.) 


Total 
Area 


Even Aged 


Uneven 
Aged 


( 1 1 Over 


Burnt 


Unproductive 


Stand ry Species 


Pure. 
Mixed, 
Kind of 

Mix- 
ture 


Den- 
si t\ of 
Stock- 
ing 


Site 

dual- 
ity 


Young 

Growth 

suffi- 
cient to 

Re- 
stock? 


Remarks 






Regulated 


Unregulated 






Species 
Spruce 


Speel, 
Hi 


Miscellaneous 
I (ardwoods 


% 




Block 
(name) 


Acres 


Area 


Average 
and Age 
Limits 


Area 


Age 

Limits 


Area 


* 
Silvi- 
cult. 

Method 

Date 
and ' 

Left 


Area 


Date 
and 
% 
Left 


Area 


Date 

and 

% 

Left 


Area 


Rea- 
sons 






M. 

t 


Cds. 


M. 


Cds. 


M. 


Cds. 


Vol. 


Tecumseh 


I 

2 

3 
4 

5 

6 

7 
8 

9 

IO 


a 

1) 


104.27 
96. 

93-73 
106. 
99.20 

[03. 

97- 

99-5o 

40. 
61. 

100.30 


104 

96 

106 
IOO 

loo 

40 
61 


20-40 
60-80 

I00-I20 
I 40- I 60 

f 1-10 

} 140-160 

41-60 
160 200 

(I60-200) 


94 

90 

80 


I-150 

I - 1 50 

I-150 


IOO 


Sh. 
4< 


'02 


3 

50 


1900 

(lean 

1895 
IO% 

Culls. 


50 


I906 
None 


9 
17 


Rock 

Pasture 


200 
400 
700 
900 
600 

1 ,100 

440 
900 




25 
35 
30 
45 
300 

75 

.V 1 " 

(.0 

IOO 




Birch 
Aspen 


80 
20 


1 

I'. 
P. 
P. 

M. 
singly 

P. 

M. 
singh. 

I'. 

P. 
1'. 

.M. 
Grps. 


l.o 
■9 
.8 
.8 
•7 

.6 

.8 

■3 

1.0 

•5 

.1 


I 

MI 
IV 
II 
IV 

III 

III-1V 

III 

II III 
II-III 

II 


Yes 

No 
Yes 

No 
Yes 

Hall" 

\(. 

Hall 

No 
Yes 

No 


Thrifty 

Mature 

( .ind. fire 

Mai urc 

( )ld burns 
1 )(( adenl ; 

lire si 1 
Had shaj ie 

old burn 


1-5 
1-7 
I. 

I. 
I. 

•5 
•7 
•5 

1. 

•3 

.2 


3-4 M. 

7.4 M. 

7.5 M. 

9-5 M. 

9.0 M. 

5-5 M. 

6.3 M. 

2.5 M. 

.8 cds. 
2.7 M. 

.2 M. 


Totals. . . . 






1 ,000. 


607 




264 




See Col. 5 


53 




50 




26 




5.840 




970 






IOO 


■ 















The silvicultural method 
may be designated by the ■ 

symbols: 



t M. = thousand feet, board measure. 



C = Clear cutting (indicate whether artificial or natural reproduction). 

C sir = Clear cutting in strips. 

(' g = Clear cutting in groups. 

C ss =Clear cutting with scattered seed trees. (Seed aee method.) 

Sh =Shelterwood cutting. 

6" =Selection cutting. 

Sh-S =Shelterwood selection cutting. 

S (.' = Group selection cutting. 

S /•' - Selection border mtting. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF VORKING PLANS 



51 





























XI 

neve 
Aged 


• * rj- • O • O • 
• ON • ON • 00 


• j 


j. G +j • • 
VO ij 4» ' ' 

M i. CD 








P 








On 








3[qE3IDO;S3'>J ^-^ 






_ 0) 






i-l 


X rt 
5 


rock) 
cut) 3 
pasture 




• o "^ 


129 

which 
natura 


Xi 












.... ". — j ^— ' 




• ^ 3 




O NO 


</> 










learns C\ £• 


-Q 




CN g 




03 


l-H O 




vO • 


\Q . . \Q 












OJ 


o 

l-H O 


o . o 

O . ^ 




_ IO 10 
P. t^ • N 
2" CO ' M 








£* ■* 








00 10 






















o 

>-H ■* 








10 10 






i-l 








r-» t^ . 




w 


iH 


> " 








00 00 




£ 












00 00 




u 
















< 




o 








10 10 




i 

w 

1/1 


O 


> !h 

o 


. . .NO ... . 
. . . o 




O 

l-H 00 * J-^ 

00 1-1 


< 


< 
A 
























10 10 


m 


u 

M 



05 


o 
> V 








06 00 
00 00 




.-) 






< 


< 

< 














00 


o 
> °? 




10 10 
r>. . cn 
o^ 00' • t-^. 










00 




o 








00 


«1 












10 ir> 












O ^ »>■ • 


h-l 




£» 






"*" 06 00 


U 






*t 








00 Tt- 


H 












XT) IO 


O 




CO 


I-l ■* 






m 00 • 10 

00 I- 




<1 
















IO IO 






to 


o 
1— 1 N 






c 

N£ 


06 06 

00 CN 










1^ rO C O 


O 


c 
c 
c 


— en 




4 


1< 


OJ 


(N t^ CN IO 


to 


Norm 
Defici 
Surpl 




t^-^O ro^o On ("3 N C\ O 


w o 






<; 


O O On O On O ON On * ^O O 






-u 












a 
















a 

o 


CO 


i> 


" c: 


-q ; 




"c3 




Si 




H-l 








a 




















w 





























a 
E 
o 










tr 


J3 




CM 


o 


h M n t «o NOO o* o 


c- 


£ 




U 










h 


arison 
bution 
lasses: 




Ad 




<U 


J3 






o 
o 

s 


rH 






. 




£ ■& <o 

O ••* bo 




F: 














H 








U Q < 



52 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 





w 














"3-d 


CO 




pa v 


(U 






** be 


1- ; 






c « 


cj 






.2d 


03 






il 


"*• "* '. 






vo vo ; 






o c 


<N <N 






i- 3 






Ph^ 








en 








"(3 S 


0) 








i- z 








3 c 


o 








ti m 


03 








OJ — 










gpq 


<N CN 








<u 


CO 






41 








2 .„ 


u 








o E 


U 

03 • 








Q J2 


"5 ! 




CO 




mS 


o ; 




o 




s 




M 




Pi 




« 






H 




CO 

0) „ 




>j 


c o 


o 




pq 


03 








O "0 i/} 






CD to 




c72 






CO 






<1 






h-1 






O 




CO 

i- ; . 






■si T 


O 
03 

\0 lO O 




03 ^ 


tJ- m o 






^S 


<N CO w 






HI 






S 


CO 








3-~- 


D 








a+ 






; - 




go 


03 








0) M 

6 


^C 




; o 






Cf 














01 












c 












CJ 












03 












O 












O 












<o 












hH •— 4 


CO 






Silf 






o o <u J, 






E- 


2 


, C 


, u 


) 



4J 


















"3*5 

CM 
C CD 


CO 

11 

CJ 








o c 


03 








*-*J 










CJ 


-1- -t 










\0 vO 








O O 


CN CN 






u p 








Ph* 










CO 






13 ot 


<u 








b^ 


I- ; 








3 a 


CJ 








*2 a) 


ca 








CO — 










z« 


vO VO 








CN <N 






JU 


CO 






2 ,„ 


CL> 






■fll 


cj 




: 




03 • 






S3 


<0 " 




CO 


0) 


o ; 




o 


Pi 


1—1 




*~* 


-1- 


CO 

<u 

>- ' 
O 

03 


: 




3 & 

o o 




~t 00 


■* 


bo 


« 


IO N.h 






(-1 i-( 






^^ 








o 


CO 






00 


CD 






V 




t- ; 








o 






1- ol 


Tf 








0).™ 




Cfl 






c cu 


>H 


lO Nl- 




SE 


| 


C) N * 










5 










CO 




, 


CN 


CJ 


; 


"^ CO 


o 


03 




' ^- "ti 


00 






. rrt C 




^O oc 


CN 


>w 


O r^ r^ '.'z.J?. 


"3 


M H 




* — 










o 








<o 


CO 








0) 




! c 


o 


i- ; 




rt^-. 




CJ 




• j3 oi 




03 




■ fclS 




O l^ t~» ' OJ to 


4 


^- 1^ co ;§ 


1 








o 










CO 






+ 


OJ 
la 




; - 


o 


CJ 






o 


03 






' — ' 


,_, 




. >-• 


O 


VO 




. VO 




CO 










CD 










u 










CJ 










0) 










o 










O 










(3 














• CO 







t 


i 3 




~il 


'X 


: o. 




o c 


) 4 


j i? 




H SZ 


. c 


5 c/ 


5 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 53 

SECTION THREE 

DETERMINATION OF METHOD OF TREATMENT 

Governing Conditions 

The method of treatment of any given forest depends on 
the wishes and purposes of its owner. It is very necessary that 
these fundamentals be decided in consultation between the 
owner and administrator, and the forest organizer; for the 
working plan must be arranged accordingly. 

Four main issues must be decided before any complete 
working plan is possible: 

i. The unit of regulation. 

2. Object of management. 

3. The silvicultural method of management. 

4. Rotation. 

The Unit of Regulation 

The unit of regulation or working unit, as defined above, 
is that area which is to be managed under an individual work- 
ing plan, and usually for a sustained yield. The working unit 
may or may not coincide with the administrative unit, e.g., 
the single national forest. 

In creating working units, the doctrine of sustained yield 
must be treated broadly. A sustained yield presupposes three 
things : 

(1) A sustained market with attendant transportation facil- 
ities rendering every part of the forest accessible now or pro- 
gressively so in the near future. 

(2) An area ample, under the silvicultural methods chosen, 
to supply this sustained market. 

(3) Stable market prices for the lumber and other forest 
products. 

These three factors do not always coincide with the admin- 
istrative units. The boundary of the administrative unit is 
purely for convenience in the management of the forest; the 



54 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

boundary of the working unit is, as far as limitations of owner- 
ship permit, an economic one within which the marketing of 
timber is controlled by certain factors of consumption or dis- 
tribution. Economic reasons may warrant the over-cutting 
on one administrative unit and the under-cutting on another, 
but if a sustained yield from the entire market unit is main- 
tained it is of small moment if the stand on one or more of the 
administrative subdivisions is over-cut. 

This broad construction is of course adapted to the extensive 
conditions existing in most parts of America. In Europe, e.g., 
in Prussia, it has long been customary to require a sustained 
yield by administrative units — i.e., for each oberforsterei or 
supervisor's area — recently it has been extended in Prussia to 
cover each ranger's district! But in America the unit of regula- 
tion, the working unit, must be practical, must be the market 
unit, just as the subdivision, the block, usually is the main logging 
unit. 

Where administrative unit areas belonging to the same 
owner are far apart or exceedingly large, they are not included 
in the same working unit. E.g., it would be preposterous to 
make a single working plan for the two divisions of the Florida 
National Forest or for the whole complex of contiguous national 
forests in Washington and Oregon. But it is entirely correct 
and logical to combine, e.g., the contiguous and similar Coco- 
nino and Tusayan National Forests in northern Arizona. The 
administrative boundary separating these two national forests 
is a purely arbitrary one; they are essentially the same in 
character and composition, and are parts of the same market 
unit. 

The working unit is given some convenient local name 
which is simple and characteristic. 

Object of Management 

At the working-plan conference between owner, admin- 
istrator, and organizer, the object for which the forest is to be 
managed must be decided, i.e., whether 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 55 

i. For sustained yield, 

2. For exploitation, 

3. For protection, 

4. For aesthetic purposes, 

5 . For a game preserve, 

or how far each or all of these or any other considerations are 
to govern. 

If the forest is to be a continuously productive one, the next 
point to decide is the class of product desired : 

1. Sawtimber, 

2. Cordwood, 

3. Mining timber, 

4. Turpentine, etc. 

It must also be decided, if the yield is to be sustained, 
whether it is to be periodic or annual.* 

The satisfactory solution of all these questions demands a 
thorough knowledge of forest finance and forest policy on the 
part of the organizer. 

SlLVICULTURAL METHOD OF MANAGEMENT 

Having decided upon the unit of regulation and the object 
of management, the organizer, in conference with owner .and 
administrator, should decide, provisionally, upon the silvi- 
cultural method of management; for the method of regulating 
the cut varies with the silvicultural system chosen. 

The first point to determine is whether the forest is to be 
managed as: 

High forest, i.e., a forest originating from seed; 
Coppice, i.e., a forest in which reproduction is secured by 
sprouts; 
or Coppice with standards, i.e., a forest in which seed- 
ling trees or selected sprouts (standards) are main- 
tained above the coppice or sprouts; 

* For excellent comparison of properties with yearly and with intermittent 
income, see Roth: " Forest Valuation," pp. 82-84. 



56 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

or is to be converted from one of these forms to another. If 
high forest is chosen,. the method of reproduction must be deter- 
mined provisionally, that is, an orderly procedure or process, 
either natural or artificial, by which a forest is renewed or 
established. The following methods are distinguished: * 

i. Clearcutting with artificial reproduction. Removal of 
the entire stand in one cut with artificial reproduction by 
direct seeding or by planting. See also seed tree methods 
(b). G., Kahlschlagwirtschaft. F., Methode par coupe unique. 

2. Clearcutting with natural reproduction. Removal of 
the entire stand in one felling, reproduction taking place by 
seed from the marginal stand or from seed in the ground. This 
method may be applied to the stand by cutting a strip and, when 
reproduction has taken place, seaming off an additional strip, 
called strip method. G., Saumhieb. F., Coupe par bandes. 

When applied by removing groups of trees and enlarging 
these openings until the entire stand is removed it is called 
group method. G., Kesselhieb, Locherhieb. F., Coupes par 
trouees. 

3. Seed tree methods, (a) Removal of the entire stand 
at one cut excepting a small number of seed trees left singly 
on the area, or small groups or blocks of seed trees, which are 
expected to seed the area thus exposed. 

(b) Removal of the entire stand excepting a few chosen 
individuals, reserves, left uncut for a period, usually for a second 
rotation, after the stand is reproduced. The primary purpose 
is to secure increment of the reserves and incidentally seed. 
This is known as reserve seed tree method. It is applied to forests 
naturally reproduced and to those artificially reproduced also. 
G., Ueberhaltbetrieb. F., Traitement en futaie avec reserve 
sur coupe definitive. 

4. Selection method. That method of cutting in which 
single trees, usually the largest and ripest, or small groups of 
such trees, are removed and reproduction secured under the 



* The terminology is that prepared by the Society of American Foresters. 



PLATE IV. 




Fig. 1. — A Compartment Reproduced by Shelterwood Cutting, Baden. 

Courtesy of Mr. Lincoln Crowell. 




Fig. 2. — A Compartment Reproduced by Selection Border Cutting, 
Wurttemberg. 

Courtesy of Mr. Lincoln Crowell, 
1 [To face page 56] 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 57 

remaining stand and in the openings. It is usually applied in 
selection forests. When groups of trees are taken it is termed 
group selection method. G., Plenterbetrieb, Femelbetrieb. F., 
Jardinage, regime de la futaie jardinee. 

A special form of the selection method is termed selection 
border cutting when cuttings are made in narrow strips, in most 
instances beginning on the north border and progressing south- 
ward, varying in character from a selection cutting farthest 
in to a clear cutting on the edge of the forest. The resulting 
forest is unevenaged in narrow lines. G. Blendersaumschlag. 

5. Shelterwood method. A method of securing natural 
reproduction under the temporary shelter of the seed-tree crown 
cover, by means of a series of cuttings throughout the stand, 
aimed to admit a gradually increasing supply of light to the 
seedlings. 

The principle of the method lies in the protection (shelter) 
which the seed trees (nurse trees) afford the young growth 
during its youth. G., Schirmschlagbetrieb (Gayer & Lorey) 
in part Femelschlagbetrieb (Lorey) F., Regime de la futaie 
reguliere. The number and severity of the cuttings and hence 
the duration of the entire removal period, depends upon the 
rate of establishment and upon the early growth of the repro- 
duction. In theory the series of cuttings is divided into four 
parts as follows : 

Preparatory cuttings fit the stand for its reproduction by the 
removal of dead, dying, or defective trees and prepare the 
ground for the germination of seeds. A stand in which one 
or more preparatory cuttings have been made is in the prepara- 
tory stage. G., Vorbereitungschlag. F., coupe preparatoire. 

Seed cuttings encourage seed production by the further 
opening of the stand, and admit light in quantity favorable 
for the development of young growth. A stand in which one 
or more seed cuttings have been made is in the seeding stage. 
G., Besamungsschlag. F., coupe d'ensemencement. 

Removal cuttings gradually remove the mature stand which 
would otherwise retard the development of the young trees. 



58 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

A stand in which one or more removal cuttings have been 
made is in the removal stage. G., Lichtschlag. F., coupe 
claire. 

The final cutting is the last of the removal cuttings, in which 
all of the old stand stiJl remaining is cut. G., Abtriebsschlag, 
Endhieb. F., coupe definitive. In practice a two-cut shelter- 
wood method has been used, including the seed-cutting and 
final-cutting stages. The shelterwood method may be applied 
to a stand in narrow strips, from the leeward side, at such inter- 
vals that reproduction cuttings are generally going on in three 
strips at one time, one strip being in the removal stage, one in 
the seeding stage, and one in the preparatory stage. This 
manner of application is termed shelterwood strip method. 

Another modification of the shelterwood method of repro- 
duction is that in which groups of valuable advance growth, 
if present, form the starting points for the cutting which radiates 
from these centres. Such an application is termed shelter- 
wood group method. 

The determination of the silvicultural method to be prac- 
tised will require the best judgment and experience of the forest 
organizer. Complete forest descriptions and frequent observa- 
tions within the forest will assist greatly in determining the 
best silvicultural system to pursue.* 

The Rotation 

By rotation is meant the predetermined time period during 
which it is intended to cut over a working group; the predeter- 
mined, approximate felling age of stands. Rotation refers to 
the forest as a whole and is expressed not by a definite year, 
but a period of ten to twenty years; jelling age refers to a stand 
and a definite year. 

Rotations are determined by (i) technical, (2) economic, 

* It does not seem expedient to enter into a discussion of the specific applica- 
tion of various silvicultural methods. Such a discussion will be found in Roth: 
" Forest Regulation," pp. 90-107, in books on silviculture and in Recknagel 
and Bentley: " Forest Management," John Wiley & Sons, N. Y., 191 7. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 59 

and (3) financial considerations, silvicultural considerations 
exercising a limiting influence. 

Technical Rotations. — These attempt to produce the max- 
imum amount of material suitable for a certain purpose, such 
as railroad ties, mine timbers, saw logs of given size and the 
like. 

For example, railroad ties can not be made from trees less 
than 10 inches in diameter breast high. If, therefore, an owner 
in southern Connecticut desired to grow chestnut sprouts 
for this purpose it would require fifty * years for the average 
tree to reach 10 inches d.b.h. on the best sites. At this age f 
there would be 435 standard ties produced per acre besides 35 
cords of cordwood. 

Another example may be taken from the Pacific Coast. 
To produce suitable sawtimber from Douglas fir, the tree should 
be at least 16 inches d.b.h. If, therefore, an owner in western 
Washington desired to grow Douglas fir for this purpose it 
would require J seventy years for the average tree to reach 16 
inches d.b.h. on the best sites. At this age § there would 
be 56,500 feet, board measure, produced per acre. 

This rotation is the one most commonly used in the United 
States. It is easily applied and, if conservatively chosen, will 
give satisfactory results. In this, as in all rotations, the sil- 
vicultural considerations exercise a limiting influence. For 
example, where reproduction is by natural methods, such as the 
shelterwood method, some of the trees will have to be left beyond 
the rotation age in order that the seed from them may restock 
the area cut. This space of time required for the renewal of 
a stand constitutes the reproduction period and must be added 
to the rotation age. 

Economic Rotations. — These attempt to secure either the 

* According to Table 17 of Bui. 06, Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 
" Second Growth Hardwoods in Connecticut." 
f Table 28, ibid. 

% Table 1, Forestry Quarterly, Vol. XII, p. 442. 
§ Ibid. 



60 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



maximum average volume production, or the maximum average 
value production. 

The higher the average yearly production of a piece of 
woodland, the greater, of course, will be its continuous produc- 
ing value if cut over repeatedly. For example, in the second- 
growth hardwoods in Connecticut * the average annual growth 
in cubic feet and cords culminates as follows: 

Chestnut type: best sites and medium sites 35 years 

Chestnut type : poorest sites 40 

Oak-chestnut type: best sites and medium sites 30 

Oak-chestnut type: poorest sites 35 

Oak type: best sites and medium sites 35 

Oak type: poorest sites 4° 

These lengths of rotation are so nearly similar that it is safe 
to place the cordwood rotation for second-growth hardwood 
stands at from thirty to forty years. To illustrate how silvi- 
culture enters in as a limiting factor, the rotation for stands con- 
taining much red, black, or scarlet oak should be thirty or 
even twenty-five years in order to secure successful sprout 
reproduction of these species. 

Another example of the economic rotation may be taken 
from Douglas fir on the Pacific Coast. According to published 
tables f the economic rotation for cubic volumes and board- 
foot volumes for best, medium and poor sites, in western 
Washington and Oregon is as follows: 



Site Quality. 



Cubic Volume. 



Rotation 
Years. 



Yield per 
Acre, Cu.ft. 



Board-Foot Volume. 



Rotation 
Years. 



Yield per 
Acre. Bd.ft. 



Best 

Medium 
Poor. . . . 



52 
55 
52 



9.050 
8,110 
5,650 



no 
no 
"5 



100,000 
74,000 
58,000 



* Bui. 96, Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agri. Tables 30, 32, and 33. 
t For. Quart., Vol. XII, p. 447, table 6. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 61 

From this, a rotation of fifty to fifty-five years could safely 
be chosen for maximum production in cubic contents and 
of no to 115 years for maximum production in board-foot 
contents. 

Unlike the technical rotation, this rotation finds but little 
application to-day, since it usually takes quantity of material 
as the goal. It is satisfactory from the silvicultural stand- 
point hence it is sometimes spoken of as a " silvicultural 
rotation." 

Financial Rotations. — These introduce considerations of cost 
and attempt to secure either the maximum forest rent or max- 
imum soil rent. 

The doctrine of forest rent considers the soil and forest 
jointly as capital and chooses that rotation which, in the form 
of a normal forest, would produce the maximum net annual 
income after subtracting the annual cash expenses. The rota- 
tion age which yields this maximum income for the entire forest 
coincides with the year of maximum mean annual net income 
from an even-aged crop of timber, found by dividing total gross 
income, minus actual cash expenses, by number of years in the 
rotation. 

In other words it is " a mere bookkeeper's balance of income 
and outgo, under annual management, without consideration 
of time of income or outgo, forest and soil representing the capital 
producing the rent as an annual receipt, like a house and lot 
producing the annual rent." * 

The Norway spruce will serve as an example of financial 
rotation based on forest rent. According to European tables 
(Endres, after Schwappach) the gross income, expenses and net 
income per acre for different decades is as follows for medium 
sites.f 



* From letter by Dr. B. E. Fernow to the author under date of February 23, 
1914. 

t Taken from " Forest Valuation," Roth, Ann Arbor, Mich., 1916. 



62 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



Years. 



3° 

40 

SO 

60 

70 

80 

90 

100 

no 

120 



Gross 
Income 
per Acre. 



$ 87 
2IO 
402 
654 
923 

1212 

1474 
I7IO 
IQI9 

2087 



Expenses per Acre. 



Current 
(at $0 . 90 
(Planting). ^ er Y ear). 



Initial 



$12 



$27 
36 

45 
54 
63 
72 
81 
90 

~>9 
io3 



Total 
Expense. 



$ 39 
48 

57 
66 

75 

84 

93 

102 

in 

120 



Net Income per Acre. 



Total. 



163 
354 



1 1 29 
1382 
1609 
1808 
1967 



Average. 



i> 1 .60 

4.00 

6.90 

9.80 

12. IO 

14. IO 

I5-30 
16.OO 
16.40 
16.30 



From this table it is evident that the highest net income 
occurs at no years and this, accordingly, would be the financial 
rotation chosen on the basis of forest rent. 

The doctrine of soil rent considers the soil as a capital and 
the value of the growing timber as the interest on that capital. 
Such interest is compounded and is calculated at a predeter- 
mined rate. The interest so calculated is considered as rent 
(" soil rent ") and the rotation chosen which yields the highest 
soil rent per acre. 

In other words it " considers the soil alone as capital, the 
forest stand representing the accumulated interest on that 
capital. It is, therefore, based on intermittent returns and 
hence requires a compound interest calculation: it is a finan- 
cier's balance as compared with a bookkeeper's balance." * 

A good example of financial rotation based on soil rent is 
found in European tables. The following figures are taken 
from Endres' " Valuation " and Schwappach's " Tables of 
Growth." Assuming an interest rate of 3 per cent compounded, 
the income value per acre for different decades and different 
species is as follows: f 



* Letter from Dr. Fernow. 

t Taken from " Forest Valuation," Roth, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1916. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



63 



Years. 



Norway Spruce. 



Best 
Sites. 



Medium 
Sites. 



Poor 
Sites. 



White Fir. 



Best 
Sites. 



Poor 
Sites. 



Scotch Pine. 



Best 

Sites. 



Poor 

Sites. 



Dollars per Acre. 



Beech. 



Best 
Sites. 



Poor 
Sites. 



30 
40 

5° 

60 

70 

-80 

QO 

IOO 

no 

120 



51 

IOO 

139 
159 
166 
161 
151 

138 

126 

117 



10 


-14 


— 10 


-3o 


43 


- 3 


4 


47 


13 


67 


- 5 


59 


7 


25 


77 


38 


134 


25 


66 


13 


32 


98 


53 


156 


38 


67 


13 


35 


105 


59 


156 


44 


64 


13 


35 


10S 


59 


145 


44 


59 


10 


34 


99 


56 


130 


4i 


53 


8 


3i 


9i 


5i 


114 


36 


48 


5 


27 


83 


46 


99 


30 


43 


4 


24 


75 


4i 


86 


25 


40 


2 


21 



-19 

- 4 
6 

7 
7 
4 
2 
2 

- 2 

- 4 



From this table it is evident that for Norway spruce, medium 
sites, the financial rotation chosen on the basis of soil rent 
would be 70 or 80 years; for white fir 70 years; for Scotch 
pine 60 years; and for beech 60 or 70 years. 

The financial rotation will undoubtedly be used more and 
more in the future especially as the necessary data become 
available. " In any ordinary forest business the aim is to 
keep the forest and land in best possible condition and at the 
same time make the largest income. Assuming the silvi- 
cultural conditions cared for, the best rotation is the one fur- 
nishing the best income for the longest time. There are two 
distinct ways of judging this income. 

" (1) . . . the largest net income per acre of established 
forest." (Forest rent.) 

" (2) . . . the largest per cent on the money invested in 
the forest." (Soil rent.) * 

The kind of rotation to adopt depends on matters of policy, 
to wit: 

1. Conditions of ownership, wishes and purpose of owner. 

2. The market and logging conditions. 



* Roth: " Forest Valuation," p. 85. 



64 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

3. The site. 

4. The character of the stand. 

1. The state can afford a higher rotation than can the 
private owner; furthermore, it is the duty of the state to grow 
timber not only for profit, but to supply future demand, espe- 
cially in sizes requiring long rotations. 

2. The market conditions influence the rotation, inasmuch 
as good markets and easy accessibility permit shorter rotations, 
whereas forests further from market and more difficult of access 
necessitate a longer rotation to make logging at all profitable. 
The decreasing area of virgin forest and the rapidly increasing 
population justify the consideration of future as well as present 
market conditions. It is reasonable to expect that the price of 
larger timber will increase proportionately more than that of 
smaller sizes, and hence it may be good economy, in view of 
future market prices, to adopt a longer rotation and plan to 
grow larger sizes of timber than present market prices would 
warrant. 

3. The more the site is adapted to a certain species, the longer 
can the rotation be. Conversely the more rapid growth on good 
sites will often tend to shorten the rotation. 

4. The character of the stands influences the rotation in 
respect to their quality and species. The better the quality of 
the stand, the longer can the rotation be; the less thrifty stands 
will often have to be cut before the regular rotation age. As 
Meinecke says: * " The time at which a tree or a stand is to be 
cut may range from a comparatively low age to the age of 
maximum production of lumber, according to the special needs 
the forester has in view; but the upper limit of this range should 
not lie beyond the period at which the gain from the increment 
is offset by loss from decay, irrespective of the ideal amount 
of timber a sound tree or stand might produce under favorable 
conditions . . . the age of decline forms the basis for what 

* U. S. Dept. of Agri., Bulletin No. 275 " Forest Pathology in Forest Regula- 
tion," Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry. Professional paper by 
E. P. Meinecke. Reviewed Proc. Soc. Am. Foresters, Vol. XI, No. 2. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 65 

might be termed the ' pathological rotation.' " The species in 
mixed stands can usually be worked on the same rotation unless 
they mature at different ages or are markedly different in 
value, e.g., a mixed forest of Engelmann spruce and white fir 
(A. concolor) will often require a higher rotation for the spruce 
than for the fir; because the fir deteriorates at an earlier age 
and becomes almost valueless at a time when the spruce is just 
fully matured. 

Where the species are not intermingled but form pure groups 
or stands in the same working group, the rotation is determined 
separately for each species comprising more than one-third of 
the total volume, and the results are then averaged. 

Note. — In connection with rotations involving financial calculations, see chap- 
ter in Roth: " Forest Valuation," on " Relation of Capital and Income in 
Forestry," pp. 73-82; also, Chapter VIII, pp. 100-119 in Chapman: " Forest 
Valuation." 



CHAPTER II 

REGULATION OF CUT * 

DEFINITION 

Regulation of the cut is the fixation, in advance, of the 
annual or periodic cut, which, in the normal forest, would be 
equivalent to. the annual or periodic increment. The regulation 
of cut is necessarily preceded by a determination of the amount 
to be cut and by the location of the areas to be cut over. 

The space of years for which the cut is regulated depends 
on the frequency of accurate revisions of the working plan. 
Ten years is the customary minimum period for which the cut 
is regulated ; at the end of that time f the working plan is 
revised and the cut regulated for the following decade. Where 
period methods (see below) are used, the cut is regulated in 
detail for the first period— twenty years in advance J — or even 
for the first two periods- — forty years in advance§ — in detail 
for the first period of twenty years and roughly for the second 
period. Despite this regulation, so far in advance, exhaustive 
revisions are undertaken at the end of each decade. Frequent 
revisions are an absolute essential, and the regulation of cut 
for many years in advance, or even for the whole rotation, is 
little better than a useless play. 

* Yield in the sense of the allowable cut from a forest has been abandoned, 
in the terminology of the Society of American Foresters, in order to prevent 
ambiguity. The terminology defines yield as " the timber or wood volume 
that is (actually) or can be (normally) produced by a stand of a given composi- 
tion at a given age under given site, conditions and treatment — the actual, or 
normal product of the stand." 

f In Saxony the revision is undertaken every five years; the plan is for ten 
years. 

t Prussia. § Austria. 

6G 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 67 

The allowed cut is fixed: First, in respect to how much 
can be cut, i.e., the determination of cut; second, in respect 
to where it is to be cut, i.e., the distribution of cut. This chap- 
ter is accordingly divided into sections to correspond with 
these two divisions of the subject and a third to treat special 
cases of regulation. 

SECTION ONE 

DETERMINATION OF CUT 

The determination of the cut is either by area, by volume, 
or by both. In this determination the bases are the foundations 
of working plans already considered namely: 

i. Increment. 

2. Growing stock and distribution of the age classes. 

3. Object of management. 

4. Silvicultural method of management. 

5. Rotation. 

Of these, increment is the most important, i.e., the increment 
as it actually is.* No sustained yield is possible which disre- 
gards the increment. 

According as the determination of cut is to be by area, 
by volume, or by both, the following methods have been evolved : 

1. A. By area. 

B. By volume. 

I. Based solely on growing stock. 

2. 1. Von Mantel's method. 

3. 2. Methode de Masson. 

II. Based solely on increment. 

4. 1. By current annual increment (Swiss method). 



* " The main task for the regulation of cut, here as well as abroad, is doubt- 
less the determination of the annual or periodic increment — the increment as it 
actually is. This is under all circumstances the most important basis and stand- 
ard of comparison for the cut." — Prof. Dr. Martin, Tharandt, in letter to the 
author, January 21, 1912. 



68 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



" Formula 
Methods." 



III. Based on growing stock and increment 

5. 1. Austrian formula (Kameraltaxe) 

6. 2. Karl's method. 

7. 3. Hundeshagen's method. 

8. 4. Breymann's method. 

9. 5. Heyer's method. 

IV. Based on diameter classes. 

10. 1. French method (Methode de 1883). 

11. 2. Indian method. 

12. 3. Diameter class method (Hufnagl). 

C. By area and volume. 
I. For entire forest. 

13. 1. Methode du Controle (Gurnaud). 

II. Based on age classes. 

14. 1. Direct method (Hufnagl). 

15. 2. Hufnagl's method. 

16. 3. The stand method (Judeich's " Bestandswirt- 

schaft"). 

III. Based on periods (" Fachwerks Methoden ")• 
1. Area-period method (" Flachenfachwerk "). 

17. 2. Volume-period method (" Massenfachwerk "). 
3. Area-and- volume period method (" Kombi- 

niertes Fachwerk "). 

18. 4. American method (Chapman). 

These eighteen methods of determining the cut will be 
considered seriatim; for each will be given (a) the description 
of the method, (b) an example of its working, and (c) an estimate 
of its value and application, with especial regard to American 
conditions. The following symbols are used: V = volume, 
r = rotation, A = area, a = age, M. = thousand feet board measure, 
cds = cords, c.a.i. = current annual increment, m.a.i. =mean 
annual increment. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 69 

1. BY AREA. 

(a) Description of Method. — The forest or main divisions 
thereof (working groups, blocks) is divided into a number of 
cutting areas — annual or periodic — corresponding to the rotation 
age. These annual or periodic cutting areas are marked on the 
ground; annually or periodically, a cutting area is logged. The 
size of the cutting areas is either exactly equal or else is equal 
to the reduced area corresponding to the varying site qualities. 
In order to give more accurate expression to the distribution of 
the age classes, Hufnagl has suggested that each annual cutting 

area be multiplied by the factor: - — ,. , ° — —. — or - 

half the rotation r 

2 
thus securing the maximum sustained annual cutting area. 

In selection forest, i.e., a forest through all parts of which 
many different age classes are represented, the individual 
area is cut over several times during the rotation, the interval 
between cuts on the same area being the cutting cycle (cc). 
Hence in forests managed under the selection method, the annual 

cut = X amount to be removed per acre under the 

cc 

selection cutting. 

(b) Example: — I. Area not reduced. II. Area reduced. 
III. Hufnagl variation. 

I. A block contains 10,000 acres. It is to be managed on a 

A 
rotation of 60 years. The annual cutting area = — = 166.7 acres. 

r 

If the cutting period is twenty years, then the periodic cutting 

area will be 166.7X20 = 3334 acres. 

II. By reduced area: Each site quality produces for a fully 
stocked stand a varying volume at the rotation age. These 
volumes can either be secured empirically or by means of 
normal yield tables. E.g., for white pine it has been deter- 
mined * that the maximum yield (Site X) for a sixty-yeai 

* Table 6, Bulletin 13, U. S. Dept. of Agric, new series, " White Pine under 
Forest Management." 



70 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

rotation is 60,200 board feet per acre, the minimum (Site III) 
33,600 board feet per acre. 

Per acre 

Site quality 1 60,200 board feet 

II 46,900 

III 33,600 

On the basis of site quality I the per cents of the other site 
qualities would be: 

Site quality 1 1 . 00 

II 78 

III 56 

These are the factors of reduction to the common site quality 

(I). 

If, in the above instance, the actual area of 10,000 acres was 
composed equally of each site quality (I to III), then the 
reduced area would be: 

Site quality I, original 3,334 acres, reduced 3,334 acres. 
Site quality II, original 3,333 acres, reduced 2,600 acres. 
Site quality III, original 3,333 acres, reduced 1,866 acres. 

Total, 10,000 acres, reduced 7,800 acres. 

The annual or the periodic cutting area is, therefore, varied 

according to the site quality or qualities in the area allotted. 

„ . . reduced area 7800 

E.g., the annual cutting area = - — : =■*— ■. — =130 acres. 

rotation 60 

Similarly the periodic cutting area = 130X20 =2600 acres. If 

these 2600 acres were all to be distributed among site quality 

II it would actually require: 

2600X1.28 = 3328 acres; 
for, from the above table of percentages, it requires: 

1.28 acres of site quality II to equal 1 acre of site quality I. 
1.79 acres of site quality III to equal 1 acre of site quality I. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



71 



III. Hufnagl variation: Hufnagl multiplies the annual 



cutting area by the 



average age 



For example, if the stand shows the following distribution 
of the age classes: 



Total Area 
acres 


I 
1-20 yrs. 


II 
21-40 yrs. 


III 
41-60 yrs. 


IV 
61-80 yrs. 


V 
81 and over 


Blanks 
unst'k'd 


2l6o 


5IO 


496 


465 


443 


214 


32 



then the average age would be: 



32X 0= o 

510X10= 5,100 
496X30=14,880 
465X50=23,250 
443X70=31,010 
214X90=19,260 



Total, 2160 



93,5oo 



93,500^-2160 = 43 years = the average age. 



Area 
Rotation 
Average age 



= 2160 acres. 
= 80 years. 
= 43 years. 



, , . 2l6o AT, 

.'. the annual cutting area = — — X— = 20 acres. 

80 40 

(c) Value and Application. — The area method is the oldest 
of regulation, dating from the sixteenth century. It enables 
the transition from mere exploitation to a conservative manage- 
ment. 

Its great advantage is simplicity. 

Its great disadvantages are: 

1. The rotation is assumed as a fixed value, whereas in 
reality it is a mere approximation and varies with the interior 
(management, accidents, etc.) and exterior (markets, desires of 
owner) changes to which every forest is subjected. 



72 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

2. The method is too strait-laced to permit the free 
play necessary for the best silviculture, e.g., natural reproduc 
tion. 

It is, therefore, restricted in its direct application to forests 
with fairly uniform conditions, i.e., to coppice, coppice with 
standards, and well-developed selection forests. As an " area 
check " on volumetric determinations, however, it finds a wide 
use. (See Method No. 14 for examples.) 

2. BY VOLUME.— BASED SOLELY ON GROWING STOCK. VON 
MANTEL'S METHOD. 

(a) Description of Method. — This is the simplest of the 
" formula methods." Indeed it is hardly to be ranked with 
them except in having the same underlying principle, namely, 
that the actual cut must bear the same relation to the actual 
growing stock as the normal cut (or, what is the same, the normal 
increment) bears to the normal growing stock. 

Von Mantel considers that the growing stock = the real incre- 
ment (mean annual) multiplied by half of the rotation (*X-] 

for under normal conditions the volume present (growing stock) 
in any one year equals one-half of the total volume produced 
during the entire rotation. This is shown diagrammatically 
on the next page. Since the volume present (growing stock) 
need be but one-half the total volume produced, therefore 
the annual cut = volume presents- by half the number of years 
in the rotation, or, as Von Mantel puts it: 

Y (annual cut) = — . 
r 



(b) Example. — A forest contains 6810 M. feet board measure 

of spruce and fir to be managed on a 160-year rotation. The 

, V 6,810 6,810 r , V 1 

annual cut=— =-^ — = —- — = 85,125 feet, board measure. 
r 160 80 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



73 



(c) Value and Application. — The greatest advantage of Von 
Mantel's formula is its utter simplicity; for it requires only 
the total volume and the rotation. It is thereby adapted to the 
most meagre data. 

Its disadvantages are: i. That it assumes a definite rotation 
which is altogether impossible in view of the disturbing emer- 




gencies which always arise. 2. While it does automatically 
reduce any surplus or deficit in the growing stock, it requires 
unduly long to do so. The annual cut is apt to be over- 
conservative. 

Its use is, therefore, restricted to determining the cut pro- 
visionally before detailed data can be obtained, and as a check 
on the results obtained by other methods. 



74 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



3. BY VOLUME.— BASED SOLELY ON GROWING STOCK. ME- 

THODE DE MASSON. 

(a) Description of Method. — Masson's formula closely ap- 
proximates that of Von Mantel, but is claimed by the French 
to have been developed independently, although based on the 
same principles. The formula is: 

2V 
Annual cut = — . 
r 

(b) Example. — A forest contains 6810 M. feet board measure 

of spruce and fir to be managed on a 160-year rotation. The 

2 V 1 3 620 
annual cut = — — Sh — = 85,125 feet, board measure. 
r 160 

(c) Value and Application. — Precisely as in Von Mantel's 
method (No. 2). 

4. BY VOLUME.— BASED SOLELY ON INCREMENT. BY CUR- 

RENT ANNUAL INCREMENT (SWISS METHOD). 

(a) Description of Method. — This method is described in 
an anonymous article on Selection Forest Management in the 
Swiss Forestry Periodical for 1 913,* -briefed in Forestry 
Quarterly, Vol. XIII, No. 2, pp. 260-262, as follows: 

" Divide the volume of the oldest size classes by the annual 
increment of the entire stand. This will give the number of 
years during which the volume of the oldest size classes must 
last. If this be forty-five (45) years, then the cut for the next 
decade would be from one-fifth to one-quarter of the volume 
of the largest size classes." 

Expressed mathematically : 

Let X = the volume of the size classes below the diameter 
limit; 
Xi = the current annual increment thereon; 

* " Die Betriebsordnung im Plenterwald," Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur 
Forstwesen, August, Sept., Oct., Nov., 1913, pp. 234-238, 265-272, 307-313, and 
339-346. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 75 

F = the volume of the size classes above the diameter 
limit but within a satisfactory current annual 
increment; 
Yi = the current annual increment thereon; 
Z = the volume of the size classes beyond a satisfactory 
current annual increment — that is overmature tim- 
ber — surplus growing stock; 
Zi = the current annual increment thereon; 
CC = the cutting cycle. 

Then CC = 



and annual cut 



Xi+Yi+Zi 

Y+Z 



CC 



This is the strict interpretation of the method as described, 
but since Z is surplus growing stock it should play no part in 
determining CC, neither should the increment thereon (Zi). 

Then CC = 

and annual cut = 



Xi+Yi 

Y+Z 



CC ' 

The current annual increment can be easily determined by 
Pressler's or by Schneider's formulae. Where reliable diameter 
growth figures are available, these can be used as well as incre- 
ment borings or stump analyses, since what is wanted is the 
number of years required to grow from i inch class to the next. 

The chief data required are an exact determination of the 
current annual increment and stand and stock tables. The 
diameter-class distribution must approach the normal relation. 
It is a further essential of this method that the increment and 
growing stock be redetermined, by identical means, at frequent 
regular intervals of not to exceed ten years. If the growing 
stock then shows an unintentional diminution, the cut was 
set at too high a figure; if, conversely, the growing stock, at 



76 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



the time of revision, shows an unintentional increase, the cut 
was set too low. 

(b) Example. — It is desired to determine the cut of hemlock 
in the slope type of Catskill forest illustrated by the stand 
and stock tables quoted above from Bulletin n of the N. Y. 
State Conservation Commission.* A breast-high diameter 
limit of 12 inches is to be observed which, according to U. S. 
Dept. of Agriculture Bulletin 152, new series, "The Eastern 
Hemlock," table 10, corresponds to a rotation of 160 years. 
The current annual increment per cent has been determined 
from increment borings and Pressler's formula. The com- 
plete data are as follows: 



D. B. H.. Inches. 



C. A. I.. Per Cent 
(Pressler). 



Volume on Average 
Acre (Stock Table). 



C A. I. per Acre. 



7 
8 

9 

10 
11 

12 

13 
14 
IS 
16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 



Per Cent. 
7.19 



07 



Board Feet. 

6.80 

6.41 
12.18 
I 7 . 9 8 
24.09 
28.83 



26.68 

21-45 
15-48 
18.36 
22.23 
20.51 
13.60 



> y 



7.78 
17-56 



(Cont. in st'k table) 
See p, 48, 



Total 5 



Board Feet. 



276 
487 
484 
645 
652 

555 
376 
240 
310 
329 
254 
150 

076 
156 



478 



To summarize: 



Y = 138.31 board feet per acre 
Z = i68.48 



Y+Z = 306. 79 



* Bulletin n, " Forest Survey of a Parcel of State Land," Albany, N. Y., 1915, 
Tables 4 and 5. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 77 

Xi = T ) -OT ) 2 board feet per acre 
Yi = 2. 214 
Zi= .232 



Xi+Yi+Zi = s.tf% 

Then CC= =- — ^ = 56 years, and the annual cut 

Xi+Yz+Zi 5.478 

= rr =- — 4^ = 5.478 board feet per acre, or, for the 1730 

acres in this type, =9477 board feet of hemlock.* 
Eliminating Z and Zi in figuring CC: 

^ y 138.31 <■ , ', , F+Z 

CC = __.,__. = ^ ~. =26 years, and the annual cut = — ! — 
X1+Y1 5.246 CC 

=- — -^ = 11.797 board feet per acre, or for the 1730 acres in 

this type = 20,409 board feet of hemlock. 

(c) Value and Application. — This method is well adapted to 
finding the allowed annual cut in a selection forest. It should 
be used, however, in conjunction with some other methods, 
such as Method 12, Var. II, Method 2, and the area check as 
indicated for selection forest in Method 1. 



* By Von Mantel's method, the cut of hemlock figures out 9965 board feet. 
The cut by the Swiss method for the other species in the stock table is as follows: 
Beech, above 16 inches d.b.h. = 10.878 board feet per acre; 18,819 board feet for 

1730 acres. 
Birch above 16 inches d.b.h. = 29.183 board feet per acre; 50,487 board feet for 

1730 acres. 
Maple above 16 inches d.b.h. = 17.345 board feet per acre; 30,007 board feet for 

1730 acres. 
Others above 16 inches d.b.h. = 14.610 board feet per acre; 25,275 board feet 

for 1 730 acres. 
For further details see, " A Practical Application of Pressler's Formula," 
F. Q., XIV, 2. 



78 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



5. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON GROWING STOCK AND INCREMENT. 
AUSTRIAN FORMULA (KAMERALTAXE). 

(a) Description of Method. — This, and the other so-called 
" formula methods " (" Vorrats methoden "), is characterized by 
the fact that the allowed annual cut is determined, apart from 
any plan of management, by mathematical calculation based 
on a formula. The main factors in this calculation are the 
growing stock and the increment. The aim in regulating the 
cut is to have the actual growing stock (V) and the actual 
increment (i) approach the normal forest characterized by a 
normal growing stock (nV) and a normal increment (ni). The 
period of time in which the actual growing stock is to be brought 
to point of normality is taken as the whole rotation. This 
is to be accomplished by heavier cutting if the actual growing 
stock is greater than the normal growing stock, and lighter 
cutting if the actual growing stock is less than the normal 
growing stock. 

The normal growing stock is calculated by the formula — 

2 

where i = the actual mean annual increment.* In even-aged 

stands it can also be calculated from yield tables by the formula 

n(a-\-b-\-c-{- . . . — ), where a, b, c . . . m are the values 

2 

* Barrington Moore, in an article on " Methods of Regulating the Cut on 

National Forests," Proceedings of the Society of American Foresters, Vol. VII, 

No. i, has suggested that: " If, as is almost always the case, the real growing 

stock (Gr) is made up of only merchantable trees, it will be manifestly unfair to 

compare with this real growing stock a normal growing stock, which includes the 

small as well as the large trees. The result would be too small a surplus or too 

large a deficit. To obtain a more correct surplus or deficit a normal growing 

stock which includes only the merchantable trees should be used. This can be 

IXR 
found by substituting for R in the expression a quantity, R' equal to the 

2 

difference between the age of the merchantable trees and the rotation. For 

example, if the rotation is 200 years, and trees become merchantable at 60 years 

the growing stock of merchantable trees necessary to leave on the area would be 

/X140 . , . IX200 " 
instead of . 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 79 

given in the table for each age class, n the number of years in 
each of the age classes, and m the volume at the rotation age. 

The main formula then follows: v(annual cut)=z-| — . 

r 

Here again i is the actual mean annual increment, not the normal* 

(b) Example. — An uneven-aged forest of Western yellow 

pine contains 3,500,000 feet board measure of timber 12 

inches diameter breast high and over on 1000 acres. The 

actual mean annual increment is assumed as 0.7 per cent, 

or 24,500 feet board measure; the rotation as two hundred years. 

rp, , , , ri 200X24,500 

the normal growing stock — = — ^ — = 2,450,000 feet 

22 

y — n y 
board measure. The annual cut (y) then =i-\- = 24,500 

. 3,500,000 — 2,450,000 , 1,050,000 

+- ^ = 24,500+^--^ = 24,500+5250 ■ 

200 200 

= 29,750 feet board measure. In this case there appears to be 

an excess growing stock. Adopting Mr. Moore's variation (see 

footnote), the result would be: 

Normal growing stock = — = H^ 24,5 °° = 1,715,000 feet 

board measure. 

rp U , , / \ • . V — nV 3,500,000—1,715,000 

Ihe annual cut \y)=i-\ = 24,500+— — ' 3 ' 

r 200 

= 24,500 + 17,850 = 42,350 feet board measure. 

This, however, is not strictly accurate, due to the failure to 
consider the increment per acre of young growth. " If the area 
of young growth below merchantable size is known, the incre- 
ment can be found by determining the number of merchantable 
trees per acre which there would be if the stand were about 
normally stocked and contained no other age classes. The 
volume of such a stand divided by the average age of merchant- 



* There has been some dispute about this, but the matter seems settled by 
the authoritative pronouncement of Judeich, " Forsteinrichtung," 6th Edition, 
p. 360, and Martin, " Forsteinrichtung," pp. 216-217. 



80 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

able trees will give the increment per acre of the young growth 
below merchantable size." * 

E.g., area of young growth under 12 inches diameter breast 
high = 6 per cent of total area (1000 acres) or 60 acres. A 
normally stocked stand of Western yellow pine 12 inches in 
diameter (about sixty years old) contains 5850 board feet; f 

= 97.5 board feet = the increment per acre of the young 
60 

growth below merchantable size. There are 60 such acres, 
hence 97.5X60 = 5850 feet board measure. But the average 
density of stocking is only .7, so the real increment = 4095. 
The increment of the merchantable timber has already been 
figured at 24,500 feet; this + the 4095 increment on unmer- 
chantable timber = 28,595. Then — ^=—* : — ^^ = 2,001,650 

2 2 

feet board measure. 

_,, , . ( n . , V — nV „ .3,500,000—2,001,650 

The annual cut (y) = i-\ — - = 28,595 + -^ 

r 200 

= 36,087 feet board measure. 

(c) Value and Application. — Dating from a decree of the 

Vienna Hofkammer in 1788 (whence the name " Kameraltaxe "), 

this method has won the cognomen of " Austrian," although 

in Austria it is now used only as a check on other methods 

of determining the cut (see Part Two). Adapted to rather 

primitive conditions, especially to irregular, uneven-aged forests, 

the Austrian formula has grave disadvantages in that it assumes 

both i and nV as constants, whereas in consequence of cutting 

and unforeseen contingencies they are always changing, e.g., 

becoming better by correct cutting, becoming worse by storms, 

windfall, etc. In view of these changing constants the formula 

cannot secure even an approach to normal during the next 

rotation unless the cut is revised at least every ten years. 

* Barrington Moore, ibid. 

t From Tables 10 and 19, Bulletin 101, Forest Service, U. S. Dept. Agri. 
% E. J. Irish has suggested that r and not r' be used, since the increment of the 
young growth is included. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 81 

This revision is not a part of the original Kameraltaxe any more 
than is a plan of cutting (distribution of cut) so essential to a 
well regulated forest; for, as shown in Chapter I, Section i, 
no forest can be normal unless increment and age-class distribu- 
tion are normal. The normal increment and normal growing 
stock alone do not suffice. Hence this and the other " formula 
methods " are all makeshifts (except as a check on other methods) 
and must be replaced by other and better methods as soon as 
conditions warrant. 

Realizing these deficiencies, Huber varied the Austrian 
method by using the current annual instead of the mean annual 
increment and distributing the surplus or deficiency in growing 
stock over the whole rotation in a decreasing series instead of 
equally. This variation is, therefore, a transition to the methods 
of Karl and of Hundeshagen, which are considered below (6 
and 7). 

6. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON GROWING STOCK AND INCREMENT. 
KARL'S METHOD. 

(a) Description of Method. — This method was probably 
suggested by the Austrian formula just described (No. 5) with 
Huber's modification. Karl takes the allowed annual cut as 
equal to the real current annual increment plus or minus the 
excess or deficiency of the actual growing stock when compared 
with the normal growing stock, distributed over a period of A 
years instead of over the entire rotation, as in the Austrian 
formula. The formula for the cut for the first year therefore 

. , V-nV 

This formula would apply accurately to subsequent years 
only if i were determined anew each year; for it changes con- 
stantly (see Method 5 above). In order to accomplish the 
approach to normal without an annual recalculation of i, a third 

expression is added to the formula, namely: — — Xn where 

ni = the normal current annual increment and w = the number 



82 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

of years which have elapsed since the estimates were made. In 
the first year n = 0, and hence the entire expression = O. In 
consequence of the increase of n the annual cut would really 
have to be redetermined each year, but, for convenience, Karl 
presupposes the adoption of ten-year periods and makes 
w = 5, i.e., the middle of the ten-year period during which 
the annual cut is to be equal. At the end of the ten-year period 
a revision of the cut takes place. 

This third expression of the formula is always given the sign 
opposite that of the preceding expression. 

The entire formula is therefore: 

/ i ' *\ V — nV^_/i — ni\ 
y (annual cut) = z± — Tf — - — hi. 

In addition a simple plan of cutting (distribution of cut) is 
drawn up as a guide in the management of the forest. How- 
ever, this plan of cutting plays no part in the determination of 
the cut, which is by formula alone. 

(b) Example. — An uneven-aged forest of Western yellow 
pine contains 3,500,000 feet board measure of timber 12 inches 
and over diameter breast high, on 1000 acres. The actual 
mean annual increment is assumed at .7 per cent, the rotation 

at 200 years. nV then = — = 2,450,000 feet board measure.* 

2 

A, the period of distribution, is assumed as one-quarter of the 
rotation, or fifty years. f i, the actual current annual incre- 
ment, is averaged (see Method No. 4) for the whole stand 
and, reduced for the density of stocking, is assumed as = 1 
per cent or, in volume, =35,000 feet board measure. The 
normal current annual increment is obtained from fully stocked 
sample plots (or from yield tables in even-aged stands), and is 
assumed as 1.2 per cent, or 42,000 feet board measure. (With 

* It can also, in even-age stands, be calculated from yield table (see Method 
No. 5). 

t This period of distribution is chosen according to local exigencies; it had 
best be somewhat longer than seems necessary, in order to avoid possible errors 
and to remain on the side of conservatism. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 83 

a density of .85 this would = an actual increment of 1.2 X. 85 
= 1.02 or, roughly 1 per cent.) 

The annual cut by the formula then =i± — T( — - — )n 

A \ A / 

^00,000 — 2,450,000 /^,ooo — 42,ooo\ 
= 35,000 + ii ^ (2^_ j 5 = 

35,0004 21,000+ (140)5 = 56,700 feet board measure equals 
annual cut. 

Adopting Mr. Moore's variation of r' instead of r in de- 
veloping nV (see No. 5), nV = 1,715,000 feet board measure. 

V — Jl V It — 772- \ 

The annual cut then equals idt — - — T — - — m = 35,ooo+ 

3,500,000 — 1,715,000 /35,ooo — 42,ooo\ . 

^— 1 -2LJ>1 - **> ^J 5 = 35,000 + 35,700 

5° \ 5o / 

+ 700 = 71,400 feet board measure equals annual cut. 

Calculating the increment on the area of young growth, as 

was done under No. 5, the result would be: for nV, 2,001,650 

V — nV 

feet board measure. The annual cut then equals i± ; — T 

A 

I — - — m = 35,000+4,095 (the mean annual increment on the 

unmerchantable young growth, conservative since less than 

■, t . A , 3,500,000 — 2,001,650 
the current annual increment) + ^^ -^- — 

/35,ooo — 42,ooo\ . , . , 

(— ^ ) 5 = 35,ooo + 4,095 + 29,967 + 700 = 69, 

762 feet board measure equals annual cut. 

(c) Value and Application. — Karl's method, which dates 
from 1838, shows an advantage over the Austrian formula in so 
far as it uses the current annual instead of the mean annual 
increment, and in that it distributes the excess or deficit over a 
period adapted to local conditions instead of arbitrarily over the 
whole rotation. However, it is incorrect in making the third 

(T — 7Zl\ 
—T—)n always bear a sign opposite that of the 

V-nV 
expression — - — directly preceding it. This would presume 



84 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

that an increase or decrease of the actual growing stock is 
always followed by an increase or decrease in the actual current 
annual increment. But the exact opposite can happen, e.g., 
if overmature stands are replaced by thrifty young growth or 
if, contrariwise, the overmature stock is allowed to accumulate. 
Karl's error probably arose through considering the volume of a 
forest's growing stock as comparable to a sum of money which 
bears more interest as it increases in size. Judeich * therefore 

(i — fiz\ 
— — \n not only incorrect, 

but unnecessary in view of the ten-year revisions; which would 

V—nV 
reduce the formula to y = i± — - — and would make the values 

A 

in the above three examples 56,000, 70,700, and 69,062 feet 
board measure respectively, the expression ( — — m = 7oo fall- 
ing away in each case. The only remaining difference between 
Karl's formula and the Austrian formula is, then, the use of 
current instead of mean annual increment and of a suitable 
period for distributing the surplus or deficit — fifty years in this 
case. There seems to be no reason why the latter modifica- 
tion can not be applied directly to the Austrian formula (No. 5) 

so that it reads: y = i-\ — ,f whereupon the values in 

three examples under (5) would become: 

/ v . 3,^00,000— 2,4 50,000 , 

(1) 24,500+— — J = 45,500 feet, board measure. 

5° 

/ \ 1 3,500,000 — 1,715,000 , , , , 

(2) 24,500+ — — — =60,200 feet, board measure. 

5° 

(3) 28,595+ — — — } —^- =58,562 feet, board measure. 

5° 

* Lorey's " Handbuch der Forstwissenschaft," 2d Ed., Vol. Ill, pp. 421-2. 

t This is Heyer's formula as given by Martin's " Die Forsteinrichtung," 
2d Ed., p. 67, but Judeich, who made a special study of this point, considers 
it as under 9 below, and his precedent has been followed, although the results 
are exactly identical. (See example under No. 9.) 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 85 

With Judeich's suggested modification, the value of Karl's 
formula is as a rough method in irregular stands or as a check 
upon other methods of regulating the cut. For this purpose 
either it or the just suggested modification of the Austrian 
formula may be used according as the current or the mean 
annual increment has been determined. 

7. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON GROWING STOCK AND INCREMENT. 
HUNDESHAGEN'S METHOD. 

(a) Description of Method. — Hundeshagen conceives of the 
increment or allowed cut as the interest on the growing stock 
and assumes that the actual cut is to the actual growing stock 

as the normal cut is to the normal growing stock, or: 2- =-2. 

v nv 

transposed this is y = v— which is the Hundeshagen formula. 
nv 

Hundeshagen calls the factor — the " use per cent " (" Nutz- 

nv 

ungs prozent ") • If nv is calculated by means of the mean annual 

increment \nv = —\ and ny is taken as = i , then — = - and 
\ 2 / nv r 

2 

y = vX- which is the same as Methods Nos. 2 and 3. Hun- 
r 

deshagen, however, calculates nv by means of yield tables. 
v is the volume actually present in the forest. 

Hundeshagen suggests a short-cut method wherein for cal- 
culating nv and v only those stands are to be considered whose 

f 
age exceeds - and thereby a " partial use per cent " obtained. 

2 

(b) Example. — An uneven-aged forest of Western yellow 
pine contains 3,500,000 feet board measure of timber 12 inches 
and over diameter breast high, on 1000 acres. The mean 
annual increment (i) is assumed at .7 per cent, the rotation at 
200 years. Disregarding Hundeshagen's method of deter- 
mining nv by means of yield tables and taking -^ =-=-?-= .01, 

nv r 200 
the formula gives: 



86 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

y = v— = vX.oi = 3, 5oo,oooX.oi =35,000 feet board measure 
nv 

equals annual cut. 

This result is identical with that obtained by Von Mantel's 
formula (No. 2) or by the Austrian formula (No. 5) modified 
(as suggested under No. 6) by making the period of distribution 
of excess or deficit equal half the rotation. 

(c) Value and Application. — This method, published by 
Hundeshagen in 182 1, was really discovered by Paulsen in 1795, 
though Hundeshagen never knew of the latter's work until 1830. 
It presents no advantages over the methods already described 
and some very substantial disadvantages: 

(1) The assumption that the actual cut is to the actual 
growing stock as the normal cut is to the normal growing 
stock is not always correct, especially not where there are over- 
mature and deteriorating stands in the forest. 

(2) The value of y changes constantly, hence, to be strictly 
accurate, y would have to be redetermined annually. 

(3) The method provides for no definite period for the dis- 
tribution of surplus or saving of deficit in the growing stock. A 
cutting plan is permissible, but does not affect the volume of 
the cut as determined by the formula. Hence under the 
method, overmature stands can be held through many years 
if the growing stock is excessive, or immature stands cut off 
though the growing stock is already deficient. 

The only real use of the formula in irregular, uneven-aged 
stands is as a check on other methods. Its use in even-aged 
stands presupposes normal yield tables and regulated conditions, 
neither of which exist in America at present nor are apt to exist 
for some time to come. 

8. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON GROWING STOCK AND INCREMENT. 
BREYMANN'S METHOD. 

(a) Description of Method. — Based on Hundeshagen's for- 
mula, Breymann assumed that the actual cut is to the normal 
cut as the actual average age is to the normal average age of a 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 87 

stand. Hence y = ny — (a = age). Now ny = ni (mean annual 

na 

T 

increment) and na = -. The average age can be determined 
2 

either by area according to the formula: 

a \ \s 2 . wherein /i,/ 2 ,/3, etc., equal the area of the 

J 1+72+73 

various age classes and ai a>2, 03, etc., equal their respective 
average ages, or else the average age can be determined by- 
volume according to the formula : 

v^ + v 2 + V 3 
a = — r wherein v 1 , v 2 , v 3 , etc., equal the volumes of the 

a 1 a 2 a 3 
various age or diameter classes and a 1 , a 2 , a 3 , etc., their respec- 
tive ages. 

(b) Example. — A forest of Western yellow pine containing 
3,500,000 feet board measure of timber 12 inches and over 
diameter breast high, on 1000 acres, is essentially uneven-aged, 
but shows three distinct diameter classes: 12 to 18 inches, 
average 14 inches (" Black Jacks "), and 20 inches and over, 
average 26 inches (" yellow pines "). The volume of the former 
is 20 per cent of the total, or 700,000 feet board measure, the 
volume of the latter is 80 per cent of the total, or 2,800,000 
feet board measure. The average age of a 14-inch " Black Jack " 
is 70.5 years, of a 26-inch " yellow pine " 285 years. * Then 
by the formula, 

V l -\-V 2 700,000+2,800,000 T.X 00,000 - 

a = — - — -= 1 — ■ — '- — ■ — = — ^^ — - — -— = 176 years. 

v l v^ 700,000 2,800,000 10,000+9,818 

a 1 a 2 70 285 



The adopted rotation is, however, only 200 years, hence 

T 200 

na = - = — = 100. The mean annual increment is placed at 

2 2 

0.7 per cent, or 24,500 feet board measure. By the formula 

* From Table 9, Bulletin 101, Forest Service, U. S. Dept. of Agric. 



88 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

y = ny — = 24,5001— ^—) =24,500X1.76 = 43,120 feet board mea- 
na \ioo/ 

sure, equals annual cut. 

(c) Value and Application. — This method, promulgated by 
Breymann in 1854, aims in common with the other " formula 
methods " to secure an approach of the actual growing stock 
toward the normal growing stock. However, in addition to the 
employment of data which are difficult and subject to error in 
irregular stands and extensive conditions (e.g., normal incre- 
ment and average age calculations), it has the strong draw- 
back that the adjustment of the excess or deficit in the growing 
stock is spread over the whole rotation, whereas the exigencies 
of the occasion usually warrant this adjustment in a fraction 
of that time. 

The method is, therefore, of little practical value except 
as a check upon other methods of regulating the cut. 

9. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON GROWING STOCK AND INCREMENT. 
HEYER'S METHOD. 

(a) Description of Method. — Heyer bases his formula on 
the following premises: 

(1) If a stand is normal, then an amount equal to the mean 
annual increment can be cut each year so long as the three 
requisites of normality are maintained, i.e., (a) normal growing 
stock, (b) normal increment, and (c) normal distribution of the 
age classes. 

(2) If normality in (a) and (b) exists, but (c) is abnormal, 
it can be made normal if the normal increment is cut annually 
or periodically, and the cut-over stands immediately regen- 
erated. 

(3) If the actual increment is less than the normal incre- 
ment (the contrary can scarcely ever occur), then, even if the 
growing stock is normal, only the actual, not the normal, incre- 
ment can be cut. 

(4) If the growing stock is abnormal it can be brought 
toward normality by either cutting less than the actual incre- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 89 

ment if the growing stock is too small, or cutting more if it is 
too large. 

(5) The period of equalization (x) of excess or deficit, i.e., 
the time during which an abnormal stand is to approach nor- 
mality, can be determined only with regard to local exigencies, 
it must be developed out of a general plan of management 
which is in consonance with the wishes of the owner. If v<nv 
then x must equal at least a period of years sufficient so that the 
sum of the actual increments during that period equals the 
difference between v and nv; where this is exactly the case 
then y (the annual cut) equals o. 

On these premises Heyer develops the formula: 

v-fix—nv 

i is the actual mean annual increment, and hence really varies 
from year to year. Hence as i improves, the approach toward 
normality is accelerated to less than x years, as it grows smaller 
the approach toward normality is retarded to more than x 
years. This variation of i Heyer meets by calculating i not 
solely according to its present condition, but by conceiving 
of the expression ix as the increment during the period of x 
years, with regard to all the probable changes in increment 
during the x years. This is facilitated by the drawing up of a 
plan of cutting (distribution of cut) as outlined further on in 
the present chapter. 

nv is found by the formula — in which Heyer takes i as the 

2 

normal mean annual increment, but at the same time raises 
the question whether taking i as the actual mean annual would 
not be equally correct.* (It has now come to be universally 
considered as the correct method.) 

(b) Example. — An uneven-aged forest of Western yellow 
pine contains 3,500,000 feet board measure of timber 12 inches 

* Judeich, " Forsteinrichtung " in Lorey's " Handbuch der Forstwissen- 
schaft," 2d edition, Vol. Ill, p. 425, foot-note. 



90 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

and over diameter breast high, on iooo acres. The mean annua! 

increment equals .7 per cent, equals 24,500 feet board measure. 

The rotation is taken at 200 years. The normal growing stock 

, ri 200X24,500 r , , 

equals — = :L ^ — = 2,450,000 ieet. v is, therefore, >nv 

2 2 

by 1,050,000 feet. This excess is, in view of local exigencies and 

T 200 

the wishes of the owner, to be distributed over - years = = 50 

4 4 

years = x. By the formula: 

_v-\-ix— nv _ 3, 500,000+ (24, 500X50)— 2,450,000 
x 50 

3, 500,000+1, 225,000 — 2,493,000 , , , , 

= ^> — - - — = 45,500 feet board measure 

5o 

equals annual cut, which is exactly the same result secured by 

the Austrian formula (No. 5) modified as suggested under 6, 

/ \ . . , v — nv , 3,500,000—2,450,000 

(c), i.e., y = 1 H = 24,500 + ^-^- -^- -=45,500 

x 50 

feet board measure. The only difference is if ix is modified 
to correspond with expected changes during the next x years — 
as outlined above. 

(c) Value and Application. — Carl Heyer's formula dates 
from 1 84 1, and is perhaps the only one of the formula methods 
in active use to-day. Gustav Heyer, in the revised edition 
of Carl Heyer's work,* adds a complete period distribution of 
the cut similar to that described under No. 17 below. However, 
this is possible only under regular conditions and in even-aged 
stands, and in no way destroys the effectiveness of Heyer's 
formula in irregular, uneven-aged stands, although it correctly 
emphasizes the importance of adding to the mere volume 
determination of the cut a " when " and " where " by means 
of a careful cutting plan (distribution of cut) as described below 
in Section 2 of the present chapter. 

With this in mind, Heyer's formula is directly applicable to 

* Carl Heyer, " Die Waldertrags-Regelung," 1841. Second and third edi- 
tions edited by Gustav Heyer, 1862 and 1883. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



91 



the majority of American forests, especially to those where, 
as in virgin forests, the actual growing stock is far in excess 
of the normal growing stock and a reduction to normal is of 
prime importance. 

Summary and Comparison of the " Formula Methods " 
The " formula methods," or, more properly, the " growing 
stock methods " (" vorratsmethoden "), for there are other 
methods employing formulae to determine the cut, all aim 
to have the actual growing stock approach the normal. This is 
secured by a purely mathematical ratio of increment and growing 
stock, whereas, oftentimes, the character of the stands and other 
conditions of management which do not admit of mathematical 
expression are of more importance. 

In combination with a careful cutting plan (distribution of 
cut) the Heyer formula serves as a useful determinator in irreg- 
ular, uneven-aged forests. It is better than the other formulae 
for the reasons already detailed under (c) " Value and Appli- 
cation," although the other formulae will serve as a useful 
check. The superiority of the Heyer formula is still further 
evident when the results of the examples based on identical 
premises are compared: 





y (annual cut) in feet board measure 


Current No. Method 


If nv = ri 
2 


If nv = r' i* 
2 


Including 

young 

growth, etc. 


5 Austrian Formula 


29,750 
56,700 

56,000 

35,000 
43,120 
45,500 

35,000 


42,350 
71,400 

70,700 
60,200 


36,087 
69,762 

65,786 


6. Karl's Formula 


Karl's Formula without 1 ) 

7. Hundeshagen Formula 


8. Breymann's Formula 




9. Heyer's Formula 


58,562 


For Comparison: 

3. Methode de Masson \ 



* See explanation under No. 5: (a) " Description of Method " and (b) " Ex- 
ample " of Austrian formula. 



92 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

10. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON DIAMETER CLASSES. METHODE 
DE 1883 (" FRENCH METHOD »)•* 

(a) Description of Method. — Instead of constructing a stand 
table, the total volume of each diameter class should be deter- 
mined. Some figures should also be obtained showing the 
number of trees of the diameter desired at the end of the rota- 
tion (exploitable diameter) which there would be per acre in a 
normally stocked stand, if no other age classes were present. 
Since these figures must be taken in the field, sometimes before 
the exploitable diameter has been decided upon, several diam- 
eters should be taken. 

When the desired exploitable diameter has been decided 
upon, determine from the growth figures the number of years 
necessary to produce this diameter. This number of years, 
lengthened by a few years to allow for a possible delay in repro- 
duction, will be the rotation. 

Divide the trees shown by the estimates into three groups as 
follows : 

First group, old trees. Those containing two-thirds of the 
exploitable diameter and above; e.g., if the exploitable diameter 
is 30 inches, this group would contain trees between 20 inches 
and 30 inches. 

Second group, medium trees. Trees having a diameter fall- 
ing between one-third and two-thirds of the exploitable diam- 
eter; e.g., trees between 10 inches and 20 inches. 

Third group, young trees. Everything with a diameter 
less than one-third of the exploitable diameter. 

The calculation of the cut is based on groups 1 and 2, and 
is made in the following manner: 

Find the volume of each of the first two groups. Then if 
the volume of the old trees is to that of the medium trees as 
5 is to 3 the proportion of the two groups may be considered 



* Adapted from Barrington Moore's article " Methods of Regulating the 
Cut on National Forests," in Vol. VII, No. 1, " Proceedings of the Society of 
American Foresters." 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 93 

normal.* If the proportion is normal it will be possible to cut 
the group of old trees, plus their increment, during the first 
third of the rotation, the increment, of course, being figured 
for only half of the third of the rotation. 

But, first of all, it is necessary to ascertain whether or not 
the volume as a whole is too great or too small. This is done by 
finding the total volume which there would be if half of the 
entire area were covered with trees of just exploitable size f 
(not of very large mature trees). In obtaining this volume the 
number of exploitable trees per acre, called for above, is used. 
The result should be approximately equal to the sum of the old 
and medium trees. If the result is less the forest contains a 
surplus; if more, it contains a deficit. There are five distinct 
possibilities: 

(i) The volume of the old and volume of the medium trees 
may be in the proportion of 5 : 3, and sum of their volumes 
normal. In this case nothing further is necessary before the 
actual calculation of the cut. 

(2) The volume of old and medium trees may be in the pro- 
portion of 5 :j, but their sum less than normal. In this case 
it will be necessary to increase the growing stock. This can be 
done by cutting, during the first third of the rotation, only the 
old trees, without their increment, or, if the area is very badly 
understocked, by cutting less than the old trees. 

(3) The volume of old and medium trees may not be in the 
proportion of 5 13, and their sum nevertheless normal. This is 
adjusted by transfers from the group which is too large to that 
which is too small. 



* This ratio is based on the relative age of the old group and the medium 
group; it will vary with the length of the rotation, the conditions of growth, 
and the species. In the present instance, if the rotation age is 150, each group 
covers 50 years, i.e., the old group 100-150, average 125; the medium group 
50-100, average 75. Then the old group is to the medium group as 1 25 : 75 = 5 13. 

t In dealing with open stands, such as Western yellow pine in the South- 
west, the area must be considered as fully stocked with exploitable trees, but 
due allowance must be made for natural openings and bare places. 



94 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(4) The volume of old and medium trees may not be in the 
proportion of 5 : 3, and their sum less than normal. This will 
probably mean that the volume of old trees is deficient, and 
must be increased by cutting less than the otherwise allowable 
volume of old trees. 

(5) The volume of old and medium trees may not be in the 
proportion of 5 13, and their sum more than normal. 

This could occur only with an excess in the old group. To 
correct this, find the volume of old trees necessary to make the 
ratio 5 : 3 with the volume of the medium trees, and which, 
added to the volume of medium trees, will give a normal growing 
stock. The difference between this volume and the actual 
volume of old trees is surplus. This surplus must generally 
be removed during the first third of the rotation, for the entire 
area will be cut over once during that time. Even though it 
were desirable to distribute this surplus over a longer period, 
such a course would generally be impossible, because in virgin 
forests, most of them of difficult accessibility, the first cut must 
be heavy per acre to justify logging. Later cuttings may, 
without hardship to purchasers, be made lighter. 

When several species occur in mixture all are regulated 
together without affecting the method. If one species has a 
more rapid growth and is shorter lived, requiring a shorter 
rotation, its exploitable diameter should be made lower than 
that of the other species. 

The whole calculation is checked by figuring what per cent 
of the total volume is represented by the allowable cut. This 
per cent, after subtracting the surplus, should be approximately 
the growth per cent of the group of old trees. 

The area check on this method is applied as follows : 

The whole working unit is to be gone over in one-third 
of the rotation. Since the rotation may be long, this third 
is further divided into periods during which the plan is to run 
without revision. If these periods are too short an unneces- 
sary expense will be incurred by frequent forest surveys, whereas 
if they are too long there is danger that the effects of original 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 95 

errors may accumulate. A period of about twenty years 
seems reasonable. Thus if the rotation is 180 years, the whole 
working unit will be cut over in sixty years. If the period 
during which the plan is to run be twenty years, the area is 
divided on the basis of topography into three parts, each con- 
taining about an equal volume, and each to be cut over in 
twenty years. In some cases, where the working unit does not 
lend itself to a division into parts containing equal volumes, 
it may be divided into unequal parts, each part to be cut over 
in a period bearing the same relation to the one- third of the 
rotation as ^the part bears the whole working unit. The 
part containing the largest proportion of overmature and 
deteriorating timber should be cut during the first period. 
This part may be further subdivided for convenience into 
watersheds forming natural logging units or groups of units 
(blocks) . 

(b) Example. — Total area of working unit = 200,000 acres. 

Minimum merchantable d.b.h. = 10 inches. 

Size of material desired: Sugar pine and yellow pine = 30 
inches. Incense cedar = 24 inches. 

The group of old trees will include those 20 inches and over 
d.b.h. The medium trees will include those between 10 inches 
and 20 inches d.b.h. 

The average length of time required to produce a tree 30 
inches d.b.h., considering the important species, is 160 years. 
The period of reproduction is approximately twenty years. 
Hence the rotation will be 160+20, or 180 years. Incense 
cedar is shorter lived and more rapid growing, hence will be con- 
sidered exploitable at 24 inches.* 



* This exploitable diameter for incense cedar will cause a slight inac- 
curacy in that the medium trees should be taken to 8" instead of 10" to 
correspond with the 24". On the othar hand, the volume between 8" and 10" 
will be small, and if desired can be allowed for by sample tallies over a small 
percentage of the strips. The cutting of a short-lived species to a lower 
diameter limit is desirable in this case because the area is gone over only once 
in 60 years. 



96 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

Table of Estimates 







Medium Trees 






Old Trees 






Volume M. Feet 


1 


Volume M. Feet 




Sugar 
pine 


Yel- 
low 

pine 


Incense 
cedar 


Total 


D. B. H. 

inches 


Sugar 
pine 


Yel- 
low 

pine 


Incense 
cedar 


Total 


Volume of 


Volume of 




IO 


Volume of 


Volume of 




sugar pine 


incense ce- 




II 


sugar pine 


incense ce- 




and yellow 


dar for each 




12 


and yellow 


dar for each 




pine for 


diameter 




13 


pine for 


diameter 




each diam- 


class up to 




etc. 


each diam- 


class 16" 




eter class 


15", inclu- 






eter class 


and over. 






sive. 






m " ~ * A 






inclus 


ive. 


200,000 


over. 




1,800,000 



From the table we find the actual proportion of old and 
medium trees to be: 

Old trees = 1,800,000 M. feet 
Medium trees = 200,000 M. feet 



Total, 2,000,000 M. feet 

The normal proportion should be: 

Old trees, 2,000,000X1 = 1,250,000 
Medium trees, 2,000,000X5 = 750,000 

But the normal growing stock over the whole area, consider- 
ing half of the area stocked with 30-inch trees, should be 1,120,000 
M. This should be divided between the two groups as follows: 

Old trees, 1,120,000X5 = 700,000 M. 
Medium trees, i,i2o,oooX|= 420,000 M. 



1,120,000 M. 

Hence although there is a surplus of 1,800,000 — 700,000 = 
1,100,000 M. feet of old trees, there is a deficit of 420,000 — 
200,000= 220,000 M. in the medium trees. If all the old trees 
were cut during the first third of the rotation the growing 
stock would be depleted. Therefore 220,000 M. feet will be 
taken from the lower diameters of the large trees, chiefly from 
the more valuable species, and added to the medium trees. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 97 

The resulting surplus will be 1,100,000 — 220,000 = 880,000 M. 
This surplus is to be removed during the first third of the 
rotation. The cut for the first third of the rotation will there- 
fore be the 880,000 M., surplus and the 700,000 M. normal 
volume of old trees, plus the increment on their sum. This 
increment will be 12,000 M. per annum, or 12,000X30 = 360,000 
for the sixty-year period.* Therefore the annual cut for the 
first third of the rotation will be: 

Tr 880,000+700,000+^60,000 ,, r 

Y = ' 6q d = 32,333 M. feet. 

This amounts to 1.61 per cent of the total volume. Not 
counting the surplus or increment on the surplus, there will be 
a cut of only 853,000 M. feet for the sixty-year period, or an 
annual cut of only 14,216 M. feet. This is but .71 per cent of 
the total volume, or approximately the increment on the group 
of old trees. 

In carrying out this method, site qualities producing very 
marked differences in growth must be distinguished in the field 
work and kept separate in the computation. For instance, in 
some of the very dry limestone soils of the Western yellow-pine 
belt of the Southwest the trees are small and stunted, and even 
when mature hardly reach the diameter of poles on ordinary 
sites. Such areas if small and unimportant may be thrown 
out and ignored; but if of some extent they should generally 
receive a separate calculation and proper consideration in the 
final allotment of the cut. 

•(c) Value and Application. — A disadvantage of the French 
method is that it requires the tallying of trees down to one- 
third of exploitable diameter. This means that if the ex- 
ploitable diameter is 24 inches, everything above 8 inches must 
be tallied. It is, therefore, best adapted to a high diameter 
limit and long rotations, which is, however, generally the case 
in many of our selection forests. The advantages of the method 

* The increment is taken for only half of the period because cutting is 
going on. 



98 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

are elasticity and a degree of accuracy not attainable with 
formulas. 

11. BY VOLUME— BASED ON DIAMETER CLASSES. INDIAN 
METHOD.* 

(a) Description of Method. — This method is based on the 
principle that a certain number of trees reach a size suitable 
for cutting every year or period of years. The aim of the method 
is to cut just this number of trees. 

The data required are: 

i. A careful enumeration of the growing stock. For this 
purpose five or six broad classes are made from seedlings up to 
mature trees. 

2. Growth figures, particularly showing the number of years 
required to pass through each class. 

3. Figures showing the percentage of mortality suffered by 
each class as it passes into the next class above and into the 
final or mature class. 

The rotation is generally the sum of the number of years 
required to pass through each age class till the exploitable size 
is reached, with generally a few years added on to make it con- 
servative. The felling period is a convenient subdivision of the 
rotation and should be at least the length of time required 
to produce enough material to justify the next cut. 

The annual cut is calculated in the following manner: The 
number of trees in each class is multiplied by the percentage 
which will survive till maturity. The results are added and 
then divided by the rotation plus one-half of the felling period. f 

In order to find the growing stock of Class I trees the average 

* Adapted from Barrington Moore's article, " Methods of Regulating the 
Cut on National Forests," in Vol. VII, No. 1, " Proceedings of the Society of 
American Foresters." 

t Half of the felling period is added to the rotation to allow for the number 

of Class I trees (the largest class) which should always be on the ground, because 

Felling period 

there should always be a number of Class I trees equal to the X 

2 

average annual cut. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



99 



annual cut as found above is multiplied by half of the felling 
period. In order to allow for mortality this number is raised 
by multiplying by 

'Mortality per cenO 



iX 



The growing stock thus found is compared with the actual 
growing stock to find whether there is a surplus or deficit. The 
annual cut is allotted accordingly, distributing this surplus 
or deficit over a certain period according to the proportion of 
lower classes and reproduction. 

The area check is applied by prescribing the order of the 
fellings through the different subdivisions of the working unit 
A table is drawn up showing for each year the subdivision on 
which the cut is to be located and number of trees to be removed. 

(b) Example. — 

Total Growing Stock 
Class 



Species 


I 

28" and 
over 
d.b.h. 


II 
24" to 28" 


III 
18" to 24" 


IV 
2" to 18" 


V 
6" to 12" 


VI 

Below 
6" d.b.h. 


Yellow pine .... 


13,178 


11,366 


19,770 


42,577 


"7,590 


215,667 



Rotation = 150 years 
Felling period = 15 years 

From a table showing per cent of each class, reaching Class I, 
and the per cent of Class I surviving fifteen years, the following 
calculation is made: Average annual cut 

_ (13,178 X.95) + (n,366X.83) + (i9,77oX.66) + (42,577 

150+V 5 - 
X. 50) + (1 1 7, 590 X. 30) + (2 1 5, 667 X. 10) 

i5o+¥- 

_ 12,519+9472 + 13,180+21,288+35,277 + 21,567 



113,303 
157-5 



157-5 
719 trees per annum. 



100 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

The growing stock of Class I trees, which there should always 
be, is therefore 719X^X1.025 = 5532. 

Since there are 13,178 Class I trees, a surplus of 13,178 — 
5532 = 7646 trees exists. 

The cut for the period over which it is desired to distribute 
the surplus will be: The present Class I trees, plus the total 
number of trees reaching Class I in the period, minus the 
growing stock, all divided by the period. 

A modification may be made by calculating the annual cut 
on the basis of only the upper classes (the first three or four) 
instead of on all classes. The sum of these classes is then 
divided by the number of years which the lowest class used 
will take to become Class I instead of by the rotation. 

(c) Value and Application. — Practically the only place 
where the single tree method is used is in India. There it is 
used almost to the exclusion of all other methods. It is par- 
ticularly well adapted to mixed tropical forests in which only 
one or two of the many species found is merchantable. 

The disadvantages of the method are its lack of elasticity, 
its complexity, and liability to error; it also requires as many 
data as better methods. Hence it should be used only in excep- 
tional cases.* 

12. BY VOLUME.— BASED ON DIAMETER CLASSES. DIAMETER- 
CLASS METHOD (HUFNAGL). 

(a) Description of Method. — Variation I. For uneven-aged 
(selection) forests the cut can be determined if all stands or 

trees more than - years old are known and their increment. 

2 

This presupposes the fixation of the rotation age. By means 
of ring-counts on stumps of average diameter or from other 

* An attempt to modify this method for application in the United States 
was made by Walter J. Morrill in an article " Method for Regulating the Yield 
in Selection Forests," For. Quart., Vol. XI, No. 1, pp. 21-27. This method, 
while rather ingenious, is not of great practical importance since it rests on the 
very dubious basis of average crown spread. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 101 

data, it is then determined at what diameter breast high the 
trees have an age equal to -. All trees of this diameter and 

2 

over are next estimated — preferably in 3-inch diameter classes 
— and their volume and current annual increment determined. 

Annual cut = volume of trees or of diameter classes - years 

2 

and over, plus increment thereof in - years; this sum divided by 

4 

-. (For underlying theory see Formula Methods above.) 
2 

Variation II. Going a step further, diameter can be sub- 
stituted for age. After determining at what diameter, and 
upwards, the trees are most merchantable, it follows that all 
trees of this diameter and larger are merchantable and should, 
other things being equal, be cut in the near future, i.e., during 
a period of years required for the next lowest diameter class or 
classes to produce an equal number of merchantable stems. 
But the lower diameter classes contain more trees than the higher 
classes, therefore more than replacing those cut in the higher 
class. 

To express this numerically, the period of years separating 
the diameter classes must be known, i.e., the average age of the 
average tree in each diameter class. Let this value equal a\, 
«2, as, etc. The volume of the average tree in each diameter 
class must be also known (volume tables, measurement of repre- 
sentative trees, etc.). Let this value equal vi, V2, V3, etc. Let, 
finally, the number of trees in each diameter class equal ti\, 
ti2, n%, etc., and the formula follows: 



Annual cut (v) = fl-H V3 + — —V2-\ v\. 

a^ — az a^ — as a-^ — az fl2 — «i 



The formula indicates the cut in number of trees of each 
class as well as in volume. 

Hufnagl further advocates the comparison of y obtained by 



102 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

this method with y obtained by current annual increment (method 
No. 4 above) and, if necessary, the use of only the first one or 
first two of this series of expressions so as to make the results 
comparable, and also periodic revisions of the data on 
which the method is based. The class represented by a h vi, 
and m, is usually the one just below the diameter limit of 
cutting. 

Since the method is particularly intended for selection 
forests it is Hufnagl's theory that the cutting cycle shall equal 
approximately a±-az years, i.e., the time required for the 
highest merchantable diameter class to be replaced by the one 
next below it. 

In its practical application it is customary to choose a 
maximum as well as the usual minimum diameter limit; that 
is, the maximum diameter of trees which it is practicable to 
produce. This usually leaves a surplus of still larger trees 
produced under virgin conditions. This surplus may well be 
distributed over the cutting cycle or disposed of more rapidly 
or more slowly as local exigencies dictate. 

(b) Examples. — Example of Variation I. — It is desired to 
determine the cut of hemlock in the slope type of Catskill 
forest, illustrated by the stand and stock tables quoted above 
from Bulletin n of the N. Y. State Conservation Commission.* 
A breast-high diameter limit of 12 inches is to be observed 
which, according to U. S. Dept. of Agriculture Bui. 152, n. s., 
" The Eastern Hemlock," table 10, corresponds to a rotation 

of 160 years. The same table shows that at eighty years (-) 

a diameter breast high of 4 inches is attained. 

The volume of all hemlock trees over 4 inches is 403.08 
board feet per acre (Table 5, Bui. 11). The current annual 
increment thereon is 5.478 board feet per acre (see example of 
method No. 4.) The annual cut then 



* Bulletin 11, " Forest Survey of a Parcel of State Land," Albany, N. Y., 
1915, Tables 4 and 5. See pages 47 and 48. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 103 



5-478 x- 



r 

2 

_ 403.08 + (5478X40) 
80 

_ 4Q3.o8 + 2i9.i2 

" 80 

622 20 
= — — '■ — = 7.778 board feet of hemlock per acre 

oO 

or, for the 1730 acres in this type, =13,456 board feet of 
hemlock. 

Example of Variation II. — It is desired to determine the 
cut of hemlock in the slope type of Catskill forest, illustrated 
by the stand and stock tables quoted above from Bulletin n 
of the N. Y. State Conservation Commission.* The number 
of years required to grow from one diameter class to the next 
has been determined by increment borings and the current annual 
increment per cent has been worked out by Pressler's formula 
(see data in example under Method No. 4). These show that 
trees of 20 inches d.b.h. and over have a c.a.i. of less than 1 
per cent and so may be regarded as surplus stock (z in method 
No. 4). The d.b.h. limit chosen is 12 inches. This leaves a 
merchantable stand of trees from 12 to 20 inches, d.b.h., as the 
basis of computation. It is simpler to group these in 3-inch 
classes, as follows: 17 to 19 inches equals 18-inch class; 14 to 
16-inch equals 15-inch class; 11 to 13-inch equals 12-inch 
class. To this must be added the class immediately below the 
diameter limit class, that is, 8 to 10 inches equals 9-inch class. 
From table 9 of the aforesaid Bulletin n are taken the volumes 
of 18, 15, 12, and 9-inch trees, respectively. The years required 



* Bulletin n, " Forest Survey of a Parcel of State Land," Albany, N. Y., 
1915, Tables 4 and 5. See pages 47 and 48. 



104 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



to grow from one class to the next are found by working up the 
increment borings.* The complete data are as follows: 



D. B. H. Class 
(Inches.) 


Volume per Tree. 

Board Feet. 
(Table 9, Bui. 11.) 


Number of Trees per 

Average Acre. 

(Table 4, Bui. n.) 


Years Required to 

Grow from One Class 

to Next. 


9 


42 M 

93 ("2) 

172(1)3) 

293 w 


• 9i(«i) 

.8 7 (« 2 ) 
■ 33(^3) 

. 2o(« 4 ) 


27(02 — 01) 

32(03 — 02) 


15 

18 


35(o 4 -a 3 ) 




CC = 04 — O3 

= 35 years 



Applying the formula, y, the annual cut, 



■z>4=- — X 293 = 1.674 board feet per acre, 



«4-a 3 35 

-» 3 = — Xi72= .637 
^4-^3 35 

712 — nz .54 w f- 

*z; 2 = -^±X 93 = 1.569 

az — ao 32 

n\ —fi2 .04, . , 

vi=— -X 42= .062 

d2 — ai 27' 



Total 



3-942 



(( CC CC 



it 11 « 



cc cc u 



cc cc cc 



L=s 16848 bd. ft. per ac. of surplus = ^^ f ^ per ^ 

cc 35 years, the cutting cycle 



Total annual cut 



= 8.756 " 



CC CC CC 



or, for the 1730 acres in this type = 16,117 board feet of hemlock. 
Comparing this with the results obtained from similar 
data by method No. 4, the annual cut does not appear exces- 
sive. If, however, the result were much higher than those 



* See " A Practical Application of Pressler's Formula," F. Q., XIV, No. 2. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 105 

by method No. 4, the formula should be cut down to the first 
one or two expressions of the series; e.g., if to the first ex- 

pression, then y=— — v±-\ — =1.674+4.814 = 6.488 feet b.m. 
ai — as cc 

per acre or, for the 1730 acres in this type =11,224 board feet 

of hemlock. 

The cutting cycle equals a± — #3=35 years. 

(c) Value and Application. — This method, first published 
by Hufnagl in 1893,* is excellently adapted, especially in its 
second variation, to the irregular and overmature selection 
forest which is so commonly encountered in all parts of America. 
It is especially well suited to virgin stands, tending to cut the 
excess growing stock (of overmature timber) within the first 
cutting cycle, and yet providing ample material for a second 
cut at the end thereof. 

The data which are required are those of every thorough 
forest survey preliminary to a working plan, namely, data on 
diameter-class distribution, on number of trees in each (in 
representative stands), of volume, and of diameter growth 
or, in the first variation, of increment (current annual). If 
it is not feasible to tally diameter classes for the entire tract, 
carefully chosen, fully stocked sample plots of varying site 
qualities will suffice, but when applied to the total stand must 
be reduced to correspond with the average density of stocking. 
All data should be revised at least once in ten years. 

When accompanied by a plan of cutting (distribution of 
cut) for the next decade, the method is perhaps the most prac- 
tical yet invented for irregular selection forests. Indeed, it is 
intended for just such conditions in the more remote parts of 
Austria. 



* " Oesterreichische Vierteljahrschrift fur Forstwesen," 1893, pp. J 77 and 
following. 



106 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

13. BY AREA AND VOLUME.— FOR ENTIRE FOREST. METHODE 
DU CONTROLE (GURNAUD). 

(a) Description of Method.* — This method, intended for 
selection forest, was originated in France by M. Gurnaud. 
It has been tried successfully in France and in Switzerland. 
It consists in making successive measurements of the whole 
forest, going over the whole area at short intervals of six to 
ten years. The remeasurements are all made under absolutely 
like conditions. The amount of increment is obtained by 
deducting from the volume found at the last measurement 
that of the preceding. A stand table is made. The stand is 
divided roughly into three main diameter classes. The first 
class includes all trees below .30 meter in diameter (about 
T2 inches), the second, between .30 and .50 meter (approxi- 
mately 12 to 20 inches), the third, over .50 meter (over 20 inches). 
The cut is taken in per cent of the material on the area; based 
on the vigor of growth at different ages. 

The method seeks the proportion of trees in the different 
classes at each remeasurement. Growing stock and increment 
must be determined by some measure common to both, to be 
determined by the parties concerned. Muret advocates the 
use of basal area for estimating the cut, rather than the estimate 
of the actual cubic contents, since the cubic contents vary 
in exact proportion with the basal area. 

One cannot establish a sustained annual yield by this method 
until the beginning of the second period. The more frequently 
inventories are taken, the more accurately can this yield be 
determined. 

" The sustained and annual yield will fix and will justify: " 
1. Whether the cuttings ought to cover all the increment, more 
than the increment, or less than the increment; 2. How and 



* Adapted from M. Muret's article: " A Method of Yield Regulation, Methode 
du Contr61e," translated by K. O. Ward, in Forestry Quarterly, Vol. XIII, No. 1, 
pp. 43-46. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



107 



where the allowed cut ought to be distributed among the differ- 
ent classes, and what proportion of the old, medium, and young 
trees it should contain. The most favorable distribution among 
the different classes of the whole, according to M. Gurnaud, 
is 50 per cent in the old tree class, 30 per cent in the medium 
class, 20 per cent in the young class. In the following cases, 
it may be advantageous to change these proportions; for 
example, to increase the proportion of older trees if the soil 
needs protection, or to lessen the older classes according to species 
and exposure, if more sunlight is needed for the appearance 
of natural reproduction. This method is much less a method 
of absolutely mathematical results, applicable to all forests, 
than a simple process allowing the finding of all necessary 
information in the forest. 

(b) Example. — A typical stand of Western yellow pine 
of 456 areas * was measured in 1909 and remeasured five years 
later with the following results: 



1909 



1914 



Increase 
in five years. 



Number of trees 4 inches or over, d.b.h. 
Total volume, ft. b. m., 1 2 ins. or over, d.b.h. 



8,255 
1,550,910 



8,400 
1,756,328 



145 
205,418 



Total increment for five years = 13.2 per cent = 2.64 per cent 
per year. The current annual increment per cent of this stand 
is therefore 2.64 per cent. The annual cut would therefore be 
taken as 2.64 per cent of 1,756,328 board feet = 46,367 board 
feet. This is an equivalent of 102 board feet per acre. By 
Von Mantel's method the cut, assuming a rotation of 160 years, 

would be * — = 21,954 board feet, which is far lower 

80 

than the circumstances warrant. By method No. 4, including 



* Data from " A Preliminary Report on the Progress in the Remeasurement of 
Sample Plots on the Coconino and Tusayan National Forests, Arizona," by G. A. 
Pearson, briefed For. Quart., Vol. XIII, No. 1, pp. 60-63. 



108 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

z and zi in figuring cc, the cut would be 41,084 board feet. The 
cut would be distributed among the different size classes as 
dictated by silvicultural and market conditions. 

(c) Value and Application. — The method's chief advantage 
is that an exact account of what is done can be kept, and of 
the effect produced by the operations carried on, so as to modify 
future proceedings to suit the object in view. The short 
period between surveys allows checking, and lessens the chance 
of overestimating. However, forest management in America 
is seldom intensive enough to apply the method since it involves 
too much time and expense by requiring such frequent re- 
measurements of the whole forest. 

14. BY AREA AND VOLUME.— BASED ON AGE CLASSES. DIRECT 
METHOD (HUFNAGL *). 

(a) Description of Method. — If the volume and the area 
of the oldest stands which, presumably, will be cut in the next 
ten or twenty years is known the average volume per acre 

equals -. This volume multiplied by the allowed annual cut 
a 

in area equals the allowed annual cut in volume. 

(b) Example. — Referring to example of method No. 1 above: 

Variation I. Area not reduced. Annual cutting area equals 

166 acres. The volume of the oldest stands to be cut in the 

next twenty years (oldest age class) equals 140,000 M. feet board 

measure, their area is 3500 acres. 

v 
Then the average volume per acre = - = 4oM. feet board 

a 

measure. 

The volume of the annual cut = 4oM.Xi66 = 664oM. feet 
board measure. 

Variation II. Area Reduced. Using the figures given in 
the example of Variation II, Method No. 1 above: Annual 



* Hufnagl, " Praktische Forsteinrichtung," is the source of this and the sub- 
sequent method (No. 15). 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 109 

cutting area reduced to terms of Site Quality I equals 130 acres. 

The stands ripe for cutting in the next twenty years (oldest 

age class) show an average stocking of .7 and an average site 

quality II, and hence (from yield tables or from measurements 

of sample plots of mature fully stocked stands of varying site 

qualities) an average volume of 46,900X7 = 32,830 feet board 

measure per acre. 130 acres are to be cut per annum. This 

is equivalent (see example method No. 1, Var. II) to 166 acres 

of site quality II. Hence the annual cut = 32,830X166 = 

5,449,780 feet board measure. 

Variation III. Hufnagl. Using the figures in the example 

under method No. 1 : 

v 
The volume of the annual cut = -X20. 

a 

(c) Value and Application. — As noted under similar heading 
in method No. 1, the method has all the disadvantages of a fixed 
value for the rotation, instead of a naturally adjustable one, 
and allows none of the free play so necessary for the best silvi- 
culture. Variations I and III are exceedingly simple, and 
hence quite well adapted to forests with fairly uniform conditions, 
i.e., coppice and coppice with standards. Variation II is too 
complex for all but the most intensive conditions, and requires 
all the data, while possessing none of the advantages of other 
and better methods. Obviously the method presupposes an 
age-class table, and hence a forest composed of fairly even- 
aged stands. It is therefore essentially not a method for selec- 
tion forests.* Its chief use is as an area check on the figures 
obtained by other methods. 



* In selection forest the area-volume calculation, as stated under Method 

No. 1, is based on the cutting cycle and not on the rotation. It may be expressed 

total area 

as a formula: annual cut = X amount to be removed per acre. In 

cc 

this form it is useful as an area check on other methods of calculating the cut in 

selection forests. 



110 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

15. BY AREA AND VOLUME.— BASED ON AGE CLASSES. HTJF- 
NAGL'S METHOD. 

(a) Description of Method. — Hufnagl's premise is that the 
sustained yield can be determined directly if the volume and 

the increment of the stands now more than - years old is known. 

2 

This method presupposes a tabulation containing the volume 
and area of all stands of over - years. To this volume is to be 

2 

added, also, the increment of these stands in the next - years; 

4 
for since the area of these stands diminishes each year, and in 

the year - = o, the increment can only apply, on an average 

2 

to half the area. 

As to the increment, Hufnagl distinguishes two variations 
of his method according as I the current, or II the mean annual 
increment is used. 

I. The current annual increment of each stand over - years 

2 

old having been determined (by yield tables or by field meas- 
urements, Chapter I, Section i), the sum of these increments 
is used in the formula which follows: 

II. The mean annual increment equals -. It can be deter- 

r 

mined from yield tables or, empirically, by measuring average 
stocked stands of average site quality whose age approximates 

v 
r years. - then equals the mean annual increment. 

Hufnagl's formula then follows (letting v equal the volume 

of stands - years and over, a their area, i the increment in 

2 

board feet per acre per annum, current or mean) : 

v+aXiX- 

Y = 4 

r 

2 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 111 

If i equals mean annual increment it will usually be 10 to 20 
per cent less than the current annual increment. This makes 
its use the more conservative of the two. 

(b) Example. — In a white pine forest of 2160 acres, site 
quality II, with a rotation of sixty years, the stands thirty 
years and older have a volume of 33,041,000 feet board measure 
on 1 1 20 acres. The mean annual increment for the rth (sixtieth) 
year equals 782 board feet per acre.* Then by formula: 

Y 

Y= 4 = 33,041, 000+ (1120X782) 15 

r 30 

2 

— = 1,539,287 feet board measure 

3° 

= annual cut. 

(c) Value and Application. — Hufnagl's method shows much 
originality and is applicable to even-aged stands of only mod- 
erate regularity, the very conditions encountered in many 
American forests. Its age-class differentiation is very simple, 
as is also the volume and increment determination. The latter 
had best be the mean annual increment, and can readily be 
calculated from sample plots if yield tables are lacking. 

A disadvantage of the method is the rigid fixation of the 
rotation age, which should really be a flexible quantity; but if 
this is offset by frequent revisions at regular intervals the method 
will pass muster, especially in the irregular stands common to 
most parts of America. If this method is adopted, it must 
always be supplemented by a careful cutting plan (distribu- 
tion of cut). 



* Table 7, Bui. 13, U. S. Dept. of Agric, n. s., " White Pine under Forest 
Management." 



112 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

16. BY AREA AND VOLUME.— BASED ON AGE CLASSES. THE 
STAND METHOD (JUDEICH'S "BESTANDSWTRTSCHAFT "). 

(a) Description of Method. — Judeich* bases his method on 
the undoubted fact that no method of determining the cut 
for a period of years in advance — some even attempting to do so 
for the whole rotation or a substantial part thereof — is accurate 
without frequent revisions which recognize the unexpected 
changes inevitable in every stand no matter how carefully 
managed. He therefore makes no attempt to regulate the cut 
for more than a decade in advance, but prescribes not only a 
revision, but a new plan at the end of the decade. 

In order to secure a sustained yield the annual cut is cal- 
culated with the following three regulating factors: 

(a) The yearly cutting area or volume ; 

(b) The distribution of the age classes; 

(c) The results of previous cuttings. 

The more the results of previous cuttings, especially with regard 
to their effect on the distribution of the age classes, are avail- 
able, the greater is the justification in regulating the cut for only 
a decade in advance. Where there has been no previous work- 
ing plan nor adequate record keeping (with especial respect 
to volume, area, and distribution of age classes) the cut 
must be determined two, three, or at most four decades in 
advance. 

Judeich does not give any certain method of ascertaining 
the cut — either in volume or in area — but adapts this to the 
peculiar exigencies of each forest. The object of the working 
plan is the attainment of normality in the distribution of the 
age classes; this is secured by a correct cutting series and 
cutting policy. 

The cutting policy selects for the next decade or two, or, 
at most three or four, all the stands or groups of stands which 
require cutting for one or more of the following reasons: 

* Adapted from Lorey, " Handbuch der Forstwissenschaft," 2d edit . Vol. III. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



113 



i. Administrative necessity. 

2. Disease and decadence (overmaturity). 

3. Maturity. 

4. Inferiority, slow growth. 

The sum of stands ready to cut for reasons 1 to 4 gives in 
area and volume the cut for the next period, subject to the fol- 
lowing regulating factors: 

(a) The yearly cutting area or volume. 

(b) The distribution of the age classes. 

(c) The results of previous cuttings. 

(a) Can be determined by any of the methods already 
described, by area if the distribution of the age classes is not 
too abnormal (e.g., method No. 1), by volume, preferably, 
if the distribution of the age ^classes is far from normal and 
there is a preponderance of overmature timber (e.g., method 
No. 9). 

Judeich expressly states that his method is not restricted to 
a financial rotation, but is equally well adapted to rotations on 
other bases. 

(b) Example. — Assuming a general stand table such as 
that given in Chapter I, Section 2, from this it appears that 
the following stands * are in need of cutting during the next 
ten years: 



Reason. 


Compt. 
No. 


Sub- 
compt 
Letter. 


Area 
Acres. 


Stand 
Species and M. ft. b.m. 


1. Administrative necessity 

2. Disease and decadence. . 


9 

10 

6 

8 


b 


61 

50 

IOO 

IOO 

3" 






Spruce 900 


Fir 100 


3. Maturity 


Spruce 1100 
Spruce 440 

Spruce 2440 


Fir 75 
Fir 60 




Total 


Fir 235 







= 2675 M - feet. 



* The selection forest n compartments 3, 5, and 7 is necessarily omitted, 
since it obviously requires a different method of computing the cut. 



114 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



The distribution of the age classes (see age-class table, 
Chapter I, Section 2) shows a considerable abnormality, as 
follows: 





Overmature 
(160+) 


Mature 
(81-160) 


Young 
(1-80) 


Restockable 
Blanks. 


Actual acres 


61 


246 


300 


103 






355 


355 




Deficit 




109 


55 






61 






103 



The rotation is 160 years; the total area 710 acres exclusive 
of natural blanks, and the protective belt of selection forest 
(see foot-note p. 113). 

Despite the abnormality, the annual cutting area is here 
calculated for the sake of an example, e.g., by method No. 1, 

••xi 1 A 7 IQ 

variation I, the annual cutting area = — = i — =4.43215 acres. 

r 160 

For ten years = 44.3125 acres. 

The cutting for the next ten years would, therefore, be con- 
fined entirely to compartment gb. 

But where stands are so irregular in age classes, site quality 
and density of stocking, it is not well to resort to area as the 
regulating factor, but rather to use some volume method, such 
as Heyer's, of comparison with the normal growing stock 
(method No. 9). 

This would give: 

z (increment) = 5,840 M. feet of spruce X (say) .007 =40,880 ft.b.m. 
970 M. feet of fir X .01= 9,700 ft.b.m. 

Total, 50,58c feet. 



r= 160 

nv = — = 4,046,400 feet b. m. 
2 

v= 6,810,000 feet b. m. 
v> nv by 2,763,600 feet b. m. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 115 

Let x (the period of equalization) =- = =40 years. 

4 4 
Then by the formula: 

_ v+iXx—nv _ 6,810,000+ (50,580X40)— 4,046,400 
x 40 

= 119,670 feet board measure. 

The annual cut therefore equals 119,670 feet board measure. 

The cut for the decade equals 1,196,700 feet board measure. 

There is within compartments gb, 10, and part of 6 and 8 
ample (2,675 M. feet) for the cutting within the next decade. 
Compartments 6 and 8 need scarcely be touched, which is just 
as well, since they are barely mature now. If, however, in view 
of the proportionately large amount of mature and overmature 
timber it is desired to reduce the period of distributing the 
surplus to ten years, the result would be: 

6, 8io,ooo+(5o, 580X10) —4,046,400 

*— * =326,940. 

10 

The annual cut therefore equals 326,940 feet board measure. 

The cut for the decade equals 3,269,400 feet board measure. 

There are within compartments 9, 10, 6, and 8 only 2,675,000 
feet, hence the management must either be conservative and 
content itself therewith or add compartment 4, with 945,000 
feet to the cutting areas for the decade, which would make 
3,620,000 feet board measure, or ample whereon to draw for 
the 3,269,400 feet board measure to be cut. 

(c) Value and Application. — This method is without doubt 
the most rational of all the methods of determining the cut; 
for it attempts no iron-clad rule or framework — such as the 
" period methods " next to be considered — but depends entirely 
on the silvicultural and economical requirements of the forest. 
By means of frequent revisions the amount cut can never 
endanger the continuity of the forest's productiveness, while it 
allows full play to the skill of the officer in charge of the manage- 
ment of the forest. The forest moves steadily toward a normal 



116 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

distribution of the age classes, but this very desirable goal is 
attained without undue sacrifices. 

It is a method of great freedom and adaptability. Freedom 
in so far as the cutting of certain stands is not prescribed far in 
advance for a certain time, but entirely according to the exi- 
gencies of the situation. It is adaptable to all methods of high 
forest which result in even-aged or fairly even-aged stands, 
i.e., to all but the selection system. 

The method in its simple application is well suited to Amer- 
ican conditions where it is often of prime importance to dispose 
of the overmature and decadent timber within the reasonable 
check of a sustained volume yield aided by the corrections of 
decennial redetermination of the cut, and to work toward the 
distant goal of a normal age-class distribution. 

17. BY AREA AND VOLUME.— BASED ON PERIODS (" FACH- 
WERKSMETHODEN " *). 

(a) Description of Method. — The rotation is divided into a 
number of equally long periods of time. Usually these periods 
comprise twenty years. Every compartment or subcompart- 
ment is assigned to a period corresponding with its age, so that 
each part of the entire area of the working unit, with the ex- 
ception of certain areas reserved for selection forest, protec- 
tive belt, or other special purpose, is used once during the 
rotation. 

The sums of the individual periods must be approximately 
equal, or somewhat higher for the later periods. If this is not 
the case, adjustment is necessary, by transferring certain 
stands or subcompartments to an adjacent period. Accord- 
ing as this adjustment emphasizes equality of area, or equality 
of volume, or equality in both, different kinds of period methods 
are recognized as: I. Area-period method (" Flachenfach- 

* The name " Fachwerksmethoden " comes from the German " Facher " 
or pigeon-holes into which the various parts of the forest are placed by these 
methods. A " Facherwerk " or " Fachwerk " is, therefore, a framework con- 
sisting of many pigeon-holes, and these methods are " Framework " methods. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 117 

werk"); II. Volume-period method '(" Massenfachwerk ") ; 
III. Area-and-volume-period method (" Kombiniertes Fach- 
werk "). 

I. In the area-period method (" Flachenfachwerk ") the 
areas are assigned to various periods either as actual areas or 
as reduced areas (see method No. i above) of equal produc- 
tivity. The method aims to cut each year, or each period, an 
equally productive area containing an approximately equal vol- 
ume. The age-class table is the basis of the assignment to 
periods, however these must then be shifted to secure equality 
of utilization in each period. Knowing the area to be cut in 
the first (immediate) period and (from yield tables or empirical 
measurements) the volume yield thereof, the annual cut is found 
by dividing this volume by the number of years in the period. 
This volume calculation is usually confined to the first period. 
Final cuttings are restricted to this period. 

In a rotation of 120 years there are, e.g., — = 6 periods. 

20 

Were the age-class distribution normal, the periods and the age 
limits of the stands comprised therein would be as follows: 

I Period Age of Stands 100-120 years 

II Period 80-100 

III Period 60-80 

IV Period 4°~ 60 

V Period 20- 40 

VI Period 0-20 

In practice this method is restricted to simple, regular con- 
ditions with artificial reproduction after clearcutting. 

The area " framework " has the advantage of simplicity and 
ease of application. Within the rotation, if no unforeseen dis- 
turbances occur, the normal age-class distribution is attained. 
But the method has the great disadvantage that no due regard 
is paid to existing conditions (age-class distribution, growing 
stock, increment). In the case of an overmature, broken stand 
more should be cut than a strict period method permits; in 
the case of immature stands, less should be cut than this period 



118 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

method provides. Equality of periods is secured, often, only at 
a tremendous sacrifice. 

II. In the volume-period method (" Massenfachwerk ") the 
aim is to have an equal cut in each period. The various periods 
are, therefore, given approximately equal volumes, although the 
younger periods are sometimes endowed with slightly higher 
volumes (" Massen ") than the older periods. The annual cut 
is found by dividing the volume of the first period by the num- 
ber of years therein (usually twenty). 

The individual stands (compartments and subcompart- 
ments) are assigned to the periods corresponding to their 
age. Their volume is then prorated by means of yield tables 
or, at least, increment tables so as to determine the volume 
they will have at the time of reaching the middle of the I period 
(i.e., the cutting period). These volumes are then compared 
and the necessary adjustments made; the stands are shifted 
from one period to another, e.g., if the II period were deficient, 
the IV period excessive, some stands would have to be shifted 
from the IV into the III period, and from this into the II period, 
until the proper balance was secured. Since this " shifting " 
carries with it a recalculation of the final yield because of changed 
increment, the method involves an enormous amount of cal- 
culation. 

This method was founded by G. L. Hartig in 1795. It finds 
no application in practice to-day. 

It has the advantage over the area " framework " of cutting 
an equal volume each year, and hence more nearly approaches 
the desires and needs of timber owner and timber buyer. But 
it has the glaring disadvantage of attempting to regulate the 
cut for a whole rotation. The future treatment of stands must 
depend on eventualities which cannot be foreseen in the present. 
Nor can the method be used in the extensive, irregular condi- 
tions for which it is intended because of the lack of adequate 
volume and increment data. Furthermore, an equal annual 
cut may disregard overmature stands in need (financial and sil- 
vicultural) of cutting, or, conversely, cut stands which are not 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 119 

yet mature. It is an unnecessarily narrow concept of sustained 
yield; it does not even secure normality, for volume, i.e., grow- 
ing stock, alone is no criterion of normality. 

III. The area-and-volume period method (" Kombiniertes 
Fachwerk ") aims to combine the area " framework " and the 
volume " framework " so that each period will contain approx- 
imately equal areas and volumes. 

Theoretically this distribution of volumes is for the whole 
rotation and is achieved for the I period by means of volumetric 
surveys, for the other periods by means of yield tables. Areas 
and volumes are then adjusted as in the area " framework " 
and the volume " framework." The annual cut is then obtained 
by dividing the area and the volume of the I period by the 
number of years contained therein (usually twenty) and let- 
ting the two factors of area and volume act as a mutual check.* 

In practice the difficulty of predicting volumes for a whole 
rotation and of equalizing volumes and areas, led to an im- 
portant modification whereby the volumes are calculated for 
only the I period or, at most, the I and II periods; the areas, 
however, delineated, roughly, for the whole rotation so as to 
insure a sustained yield. 

This method was founded by Heinrich Cotta in 1804. The 
important modification of restricting the volumes to the I or 
I and II periods dates from von Klipstein in 1823 and von 
Grebe in 1867. 

This method possesses the combined advantages of the area 
and the volume " framework "; it secures a greater regularity 
of volume yield than does the former and a quicker approach 
toward normality than does the latter. Combined with a proper 
distribution of the age classes and a liberal interpretation of 
equality in the periods, the method secures good results. But 

*A number of variations have been suggested, e.g., annual cut = volume of 
period ■¥ years of period (Prussian practice); annual cut = area of period -f- years 
of period (Auhagen); annual cut = area of (I or I and II) periods-;- years and 
reduced to volume (von Stockhausen and von Grebe). In practice both factors 
are regarded as local conditions demand. 



120 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

with too strict construction it results in crass errors, such as 
the needless leaving of overmature stands simply because they 
are in the sacrosanct II period and can not be touched,* or the 
cutting of immature stands which were placed in the I period 
merely to " fill in." 

(b) Example. — Since, from what has gone before and what 
follows (c) these methods are so obviously unsuited to American 
conditions, it would serve no useful purpose to elaborate them 
by examples.f 

(c) Value of Application. — In most of the German States 
the " framework " methods were the foundation of regulated 
management and thus exerted a mighty influence on German 
forestry. But under the conditions of modern times they 
have steadily diminished in importance for the following 
reasons: 

(i) The silvicultural method of management, to which the 
method of regulating the cut must conform, is often in direct 
disagreement with the " framework " method. The latter 
demands that the cutting on a given parcel (e.g., compart- 
ment) be completed within the period (twenty years). This 
is often impossible without silvicultural mistakes and economic 
sacrifices. The natural reproduction of many species requires 
more than an arbitrary period of, say, twenty years. Even 
with artificial reproduction there are often unavoidable and 
unforeseeable events which make complete regeneration im- 
possible within the period. 

(2) The concept of sustained yield which endows each period 
with an equal area or volume, or both, is unnecessarily narrow. 
For practical purposes it suffices that the area or volume, or 

* This has led to the growing demand for the " Opening of the II Period." 
t These may be found in Judeich's or Martin's " Forsteinrichtung," or in 
Lorey's " Handbuch der Forstwissenschaft," 2d ed., Vol. Ill, pp. 411, 415, and 
423, or in Roth: " Forest Regulation," pp. 142-145, 147-150, who gives, what he 
calls the " Allotment Methods," a strong endorsement, despite the fact that most 
of the European countries have outgrown them. This endorsement is all the 
more strange since Roth values Dr. Martin so highly as an authority and Martin 
himself repeatedly declares against the period methods. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 121 

both, of the next working period be in reasonable ratio to the 
total area or volume, or both, of the entire working unit. 
Modern economic conditions have greatly changed the concept 
of sustained yield and often demand the cutting of other than 
the exact period area; the zone of economic influence has 
extended tremendously. 

(3) Cutting series are not dependent on a period method; 
indeed the latter often resulted in cutting series of excessive 
length. 

(4) The assignment of every compartment or other parcel 
of the forest to a certain period presumes a certainty of judg- 
ment on the part of the forest organizer amounting to pre- 
science. As a result the cumbersome calculations are often 
valueless. 

(5) These calculations of cut for the whole rotation in 
advance are the more unnecessary since, under proper admin- 
istration, there are frequent revisions of the working plan at 
regular intervals. 

Taking all these together, it is a just cricitism of the " frame- 
work " methods to say that they are too hide-bound, adapted 
only to even-aged stands, to intensive conditions, and to methods 
of clearcutting with artificial reproduction. The realization 
of this has brought about a revulsion from these methods. 
Most of the German States have definitively abandoned the 
" framework "; in others it still persists, but without any weight 
on the determination of cut for future periods (see Part Two, 
Chapter I). 

18. BY AREA AND VOLUME.— BASED ON PERIODS. AMERICAN 
METHOD.* 

(a) Description of Method. — Professor Chapman offers this 
method as a possible standard for regulation in all forests whose 
increment per acre and age classes can be determined and as 

* Adapted from " Coordination of Growth Studies, Reconnaissance, and 
Regulation of Yield on National Forests," H. H. Chapman, Proc. Soc. Am. For- 
esters, Vol. VIII, No. 3, pp. 317-326. 



122 v THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

such it has been termed by him for convenience the " American " 
method of regulation. 

Step i. — The forest is grouped into four or five rough age 
classes such as: 

i. Decadent (overmature) O 

2. Mature (mature) M 

3. Young merchantable (young) Y 

4. Immature poles (poles) P 

5. Immature saplings (saplings) S 

6. Seedlings (reproduction) R 

The rotation age may coincide with the upper limit of 
class 3. 

Step 2. — Find the average age of each age class either by 
area or by volume (as described under method 8) or by draw- 
ing a curve of height on diameter for the type, and thus secur- 
ing a type volume table based on diameter alone. The aver- 
age volume of the trees in the age class is found from knowing 
the total volume and total number of trees. The diameter, 
which corresponds to this average volume, is taken direct from 
the volume table, but interpolated to one-tenth of an inch. 
The age of a tree of this diameter is found from the growth 
curve of diameter based on age, prepared on a similar site 
by analyzing the growth on stumps. This age is accepted as 
the average age of the class. 

Step 3. — The volume in each group, or age class, is com- 
puted from reconnaissance. 

Step 4. — From the yield table (which may be constructed 
by any of the accepted methods) read the current annual in- 
crement per cent for stands of each age class. The increment 
in decadent stands (overmature) may be a minus quantity. 

Step 5. — Plan to remove the volume of the decadent class 
within a given period (I) corresponding to the quantity and con- 
dition thereof, the distribution of the age classes * and the 

* The presence of large areas of immature timber of good size should permit 
the more rapid cutting of the older stands. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 123 

possibility of heavy cutting. The total cut for the period will 
be the volume of the decadent class plus half the growth (or 
minus half the loss) for the period as found in step 4. The 
annual cut equals the cut for the period divided by the number 
of years. 

Step 6. — Plan to remove the volume of the mature class in a 
period (II) beginning in the year when the volume of decadent 
timber is exhausted and stretching over a number of years 
according to its acreage and volume. The total cut for Period 
II equals present volume of the mature class plus the growth 
during Period I plus one half the growth (or perhaps minus 
one half the loss) during Period II. 

Step 7. — Treat group 3 the same way, remembering that 
the calculation becomes increasingly uncertain the more remote 
the period. 

Step 8. — Determine for groups 4, 5 and 6 the per cent of 
total area occupied and assign to it a period at the end of the 
rotation equaling this per cent of the total rotation. 

Step g. — The sum of the periods should equal the number of 
years in the rotation, since before the expiration of the full 
rotation all timber now growing, from seedlings up, will pass the 
exploitable age. 

Step 10. — Should the first arbitrary assignment of periods 
give very irregular yields, alter the lengths of the periods and 
recompute the yields, until the desired equalization of yield is 
approximated. 

(b) Example. — The complete figures of an example are too 
extended to be given here; however, as worked out by the 
author for Western yellow pine on the Coconino National 
Forest in Arizona in 19 13, this method gives, for an area of 
100,000 acres, an annual cut of 12,160 M. feet b.m. or, on a 
basis comparable with the data used in figuring the cut by 
ether methods, of 4,053,333 feet b.m., as against 6202 M. feet 
b.m. by Heyer's formula (No. 9), and 5457 M. feet b.m. by 
Hufnagl's method (No. 12, Var. II). This bespeaks a thor- 
ough conservativeness of regulation by the American method. 



124 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(c) Value and Application. — This is an adaptation of Hartig's 
volume— period method (see method No. 17, Var. II) but greatly 
simplified. Some of the disadvantages of the period methods 
adhere to it, but it has the following substantial advantages: 
The commercial factors of demand and markets, as well as 
the conditions of the stand, can be given full weight in fixing 
the limits of the annual cut, actual increment is fully recog- 
nized, and sustained yield is assured by recognition of the 
amount and relation of the actual age classes. 

It is applicable to even-aged forests and to those uneven- 
aged by groups of even age. It is not suited for the true selec- 
tion forest unless a satisfactory yield table, based on age and 
area, can be made. 

REVIEW OF THE METHODS OF DETERMINING THE CUT 

No single one of the methods described above will be 
adapted to all varieties of conditions. The choice of method 
depends: 1, on the intensity of management possible; 2, the 
kind of forest, and 3, the silvicultural method adopted. In the 
light of these considerations, the methods may be valued as 
follows : 

Method No. 1 is chiefly adapted to coppice and coppice 
with standards. It is also useful as an area check on calculations 
by volume alone. 

Methods Nos. 2 and 3 for provisional determination of the 
cut under rough conditions, and as a check on other methods. 

Method No. 4 for selection forest. 

Methods Nos. 5-9 (" formula methods "): Of these all but 
No. 9 are restricted to rough calculations in irregular stands 
and as checks on other methods. No. 9 (Heyer's formula) 
finds a wide application in uneven-aged, virgin stands when 
supplemented by a careful cutting plan. 

Method No. 10 is adapted to high diameter limits and long 
rotations. 

Method No. 11 is adapted to mixed tropical forests where 
only one or two of the many species are merchantable. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



125 



Method No. 12 is excellently suited for irregular and over- 
mature selection forests. 

Method No. 13 is restricted to very intensive conditions. 

Method No. 14, variations I and III, for coppice and coppice 
with standards, Var. II for intensive conditions. Chiefly used 
as area check. 

Method No. 15, for even-aged stands of only moderate 
regularity. 

Diagram E 

DETERMINATION OF CUT BY 18 DIFFERENT METHODS 
BASED ON THE SAME PREMISES 



7,500 
5 7,000 

CO 

03 

g 6,500 

"2 

a 6,000 
o 

n 

^5,500 
<o 

CD 

* 5,000 
.3 4,500 



4,000 



; 3,500 



.53,000 
o 2,500 



2,000 



*'by volume 



Qby A 1 
Of 



Method Number 2 3 4 5 6 



? 
all- met 



8 9, 10 11 12 v "13 v al4 v ril , iul5 v l "15 v nl8 



Simple form only 



Morrill 



Method No. 16, the ultima ratio of fairly regular, even-aged 
stands. 

Method No. 17, the strait-laced period method of Europe; 
not adapted to American conditions. 

Method No. 18, an American adaptation of the period 
method for even-aged stands and those uneven-aged by groups 
of even age. 

It is always advisable to calculate the annual cut by a 
variety of methods so as to have a check on the figures. Both 



126 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

volume and area should be figured wherever possible in order 
to have an " area check." * 

The accompanying diagram (Diagram E) shows the rela- 
tive numerical results of computing the cut by the different 
methods, using the same data as premises. 

CORRELATION OF SILVICULTURAL METHODS AND METHODS OF 
DETERMINING THE CUT 

In general it should be borne in mind as Roth points out in 
his " Forest Regulation," page 159: " Regulation of the cut 
in amount is very important in development of any forest 
property to prevent unreasonable overcutting which could defer 
any desired regularity of income for a long time and bring 
permanent injury to parts of a forest. But it is not as important 
as is good protection and silviculture and a suitable division 
of the forest, for these together with any degree of orderly 
sequence of cutting will in themselves work in the direction 
of regularity and will in all forest properties largely replace 
regulation of the cut in time.f 

" But in the present beginning stages of forestry, such 
simple and satisfactory procedure is not possible. More than 
75 per cent of our large forest areas are not even accessible and 
assigning an area here to a particular time, can have no mean- 
ing. For this and other reasons it is necessary to use other 
methods." 



* " To learn what the condition of the whole forest is with reference to con- 
tinuity of the determined felling budget, the average age of the entire forest is 



found by dividing the stock by the increment [— = «]. This should be equal 

to one half the rotation; if it turns out to be much less, it may be an indication not 
to cut the entire increment during the working period, or vice versa, in order to 
come nearer to normal age." Oberforstrat Frey in " Vercinfachung des Wald- 
ertragsregelungs-Verfahren," Allgemeine Forst- und Jagd-Zeitung, July, 1905, 
pp. 232-236. 

f Cotta, a century ago said: " A proper division of area, orderly sequence in 
cutting, and frequent revisions of the plan, are far more important than a mere 
calculation of the permissible amount of timber to be cut." 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 127 

i. Selection Method. — The cutting cycle — i.e., the period 
of return — is of more real importance than the rotation. The 
cutting cycle, in turn, depends on the time required for repro- 
duction and on the growth. 

Regulation must be simple to fit the extensive conditions. 
Volume with an area check is suggested. For volume use: 

Von Mantel's method (No. 2) or 

Swiss method (No. 4) or 

Heyer's method (No. 9) or 

Hufnagl's diameter class method (No. 12, especially 
Var. II). 

The choice of methods depends on the available data. 
Methods 4, 9, and 12 may often be employed as a check on each 

other. For area check use : — — — X volume per acre to 

cutting cycle 

be cut. 

2. Shelterwood Method. — In its strict form, this leads to 
even-aged stands, but may exhibit quasi-cutting cycles if the 
period of reproduction is long. The determination of the age 
classes is important. 

In the former case — even-aged stands with rapid reproduc- 
tion — regulation can be by volume with an area check or by 
volume and area. For volume use Heyer's formula (No. 9) 
or even Von Mantel's method of " glorious simplicity " (No. 

2). For area use : X volume per acre. For volume 

rotation 

and area use Hufnagl's method based on age-classes and the mean 

annual increment (No. 15) or Chapman's " American method " 

(No. 18). 

The distribution of age-classes, actual and normal, is of 
great value in judging the needs and the progress of the man- 
agement. 

If the period of reproduction is so long as to constitute a 
quasi-cutting cycle, the regulation will be like that for selec- 
tion method. 



128 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

3. Clearcutting and Seed-tree Methods. — These invariably 
lead to even-aged stands. Regulation can be by area with a 
volume check or by volume and area. The distribution of age- 
classes is very important. 

„ total area v , , 

For area use — : X volume per acre. 

rotation 

For volume use Heyer's formula (No. 9) or even Von Man- 
tel's method (No. 2). 

For volume and area use Hufnagl's method based on age 
classes and the mean annual increment (No. 15) or Chapman's 
" American method " (No. 18) or, where conditions are suf- 
ficiently intensive, Judeich's Stand method (No. 16). 

4. Coppice. — Use area or area and volume. 
For area use method No. 1. 

For area and volume use Hufnagl's direct method (No. 14). 

5. Coppice with Standards. — Coppice regulated as above. 
Standards regulated similarly except that the rotation of the 
standards is a multiple of the coppice rotation. 

In all cases, if possible, the cut should be determined by more 
than one method in order to be sure of the results. The cut 
adopted should be a conservative average of the results by different 
methods* 

In using area of high forest as a means of determining the 
cut it may either be the area unreduced, reduced, or based on 
average age; according as the data warrant. (See method 1, 
variations I, II and III.) 

* For example, in the accompanying diagram, the cut, figured by eighteen 
methods, averages 4,914.66 board feet. The cut for the next ten years would, 
therefore, be taken as not to exceed 50,000 M. feet board measure. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 129 

SECTION TWO 

DISTRIBUTION OF CUT 

To make the actual annual cut conform directly to the 
cut as determined, i.e., to cut yearly the exact amount speci- 
fied in the working plan, is neither possible nor desirable. 
Unforeseen contingencies, both silvicultural and economic, 
often necessitate an overcut one year, an undercut the following. 
If the working plan must be flexible even under European 
conditions which allow the forester to decide the " where " 
and " when " of cutting, how much more is it necessary in 
America, where the " where " depends on profitable acces- 
sibility and the " when " on market conditions. 

It therefore suffices entirely to keep within the allowed cut 
for the working period of ten or twenty years — the period 
of years during which the working plan is intended to apply — 
and to make no attempt to cut one-tenth or one-twentieth 
thereof each year. In other words: a periodic sustained yield 
rather than an exact annual sustained yield should be the 
aim. 

For similar reasons, a great flexibility must be allowed in 
the selection of the actual cutting areas. The working plan 
properly lists certain areas to be cut within the working period 
of ten or twenty years — the time before the next revision of the 
working plan — but these cannot be rigidly adhered to, cannot 
in Europe, and much less so in America. European experience 
has brought about a great liberality in this regard — the executive 
officer in charge of the forest is given freedom of choice as to 
what areas he wishes to cut each year of the working period,* 
this yearly cutting plan is viseed and approved by his superior 
officers, otherwise he has carte blanche to exercise his judgment. 

* With due regard, of course, to supplying local needs for timber and to a 
proper distribution of classes of timber so as to keep values from fluctuating 
and to provide industries dependent on the forests with the timber they 
need. 



130 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

No other course is possible in America, where conditions are far 
more extensive. The working plan designates certain areas, 
certain cutting series even; beyond this it cannot go. It must 
help and not hamper the managing officer. It is merely a frame 
within which he exercises his individual ingenuity. 

Selection of Stands to be Cut 

The conditions which govern the selection of stands to be 
cut are: market, maturity, damage (insects, fungi, etc.), wind- 
fall, fire, and the like. 

Under market are contained all the manifold considerations 
of logging accessibility, of profit in cutting and marketing, 
and the sizes and species which can be logged. For example, 
a spruce stand on top of an isolated mountain like Mt. Graham 
in Arizona may be fully mature and in need of cutting, but unless 
there are adequate logging devices which can market the tim- 
ber at a reasonable profit, it is useless to designate this as the 
sole cutting area of the next working period. Similarly, there 
may be large amounts of fir (abies) in mixture with other species 
such as spruce and Douglas fir, but unless the fir is accepted as 
lumber and as ties it cannot be counted on the same basis with 
the other species. Finally, where material below a certain 
diameter cannot be marketed at a profit it should not be con- 
sidered a part of the cut of the next working period. In other 
words, the cutting plan must deal first with actualities con- 
fronting the administrative officer and put hypothetical utili- 
zation in a subordinate place. 

Other things being equal, the cutting plan provides for the 
logging of all mature and overmature stands, i.e., such as have 
attained or passed the rotation age. If the forest is even-aged 
or fairly so, these stands are those of the highest age class or 
classes. 

Stands which show damage by insects, fungi, etc., should 
usually be cut; they are therefore included in the cutting plan 
for the next working period. 

Stands which have suffered severe windfall must often be 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 131 

cut speedily so as to prevent further damage.* But, further 
than this, the lessons of past windfall must be applied in dis- 
tributing the cut — e.g., to remove a certain stand may expose 
the one behind it and subject it to almost certain windfall. 
This can best be regulated by the formation of cutting series, 
described below. The windfall danger varies, of course, with 
species and character of stand, with soil and site, and with the 
prevailing wind direction. Spruce is exceedingly subject to 
windfall and often requires especial precautions. 

Stands damaged by fire enough to necessitate reproduction, 
but not enough to be rendered unmerchantable, must be dis- 
posed of speedily before further deterioration. 

Mapping of Stands to be Cut 

The type and age-class map of the forest is of the greatest 
value in deciding on the areas to be included in the cutting plan 
for the working period, especially when supplemented by com- 
plete and reliable forest descriptions of each unit. Referring 
to Fig. i, and presuming that it is possible to log and market 
where, when, and what one wishes, but that the windfall danger 
is great, making many " points of attack " preferable to extensive 
consecutive cutting areas, the following stands would be chosen: 

4a, ye, and 8a can be cut without in the least endangering 
any other stands. 

6e, however, though it is sixty- three years old, cannot be 
cut before the larger, but only sixty-year-old 6a, because this 
would immediately subject 6a to heavy windfalls. Hence 6e 
must wait until 6a is cut. This involves a balancing of whether 
it is the more desirable to cut 6a and 6e now or to wait until 
6a is fully mature. Other things being equal, 6e must wait, 
since it is the smaller. 

The stands or blocks in which it is intended to cut during 
the coming working period should be indicated on the working 

* In the spruce stands of the Black Forest, Germany, it is not uncommon 
to have most of the annual cut taken up by unexpected windfalls. (F. Q., 
XI, 333-) 



132 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

map either by color, or shading, or symbol. The kind of cutting 
intended, e.g., shelterwood, can also be indicated by using the 
symbols given in the " General Stand Table," Chapter I, 
Section 2, above. 

Cutting Series 

When one cutting area is purposely joined to another and 
this to a third, etc., they form a cutting series. In its perfect 
form it is a silvicultural unit, usually consisting of several 
compartments, in which the age classes are arranged so that 
they form a complete series, thereby permitting each cutting 
series to be handled independently. The object is to interrupt 
the regular sequence of the age classes and thereby to interrupt 
the continuity of cutting areas. This tends to reduce the 
damage due to windfall and insects. (See frontispiece for 
illustration.) Cutting series always progress from some initial 
" point of attack " against the prevailing wind direction. They 
are shown on the map by arrows. The formation of cutting 
series is a tremendous safeguard against windfall, especially 
where at the point of attack a wind-mantle has formed on the 
edge of the stand to leeward. This mantle consists of the per- 
sisting middle and lower branches of the trees on the edge of the 
stand. It is artificially stimulated during the youth of the 
stand by the cutting through of compartment lines, or forms 
naturally along a road, stream, or other topographic inter- 
ruption. It can also be created by heavy thinning along the 
edge of a stand or compartment whereby the crowns remain 
deep and hence the trees windfirm*. 

Cutting series can seldom be arranged without some minor 
sacrifices. For example, in Fig. 1 the small, forty-eight-year 
old stand jd lies in the midst of the nearly merchantable seventy- 
two-year old stand ye: yd would be sacrificed to the cutting 
series, the lesser good to the greater. Only if the borders of yd 
had been liberated so as to form a mantle, could it be left after 
ye has been cut. This would be done in the case of 7/, since 
it is a much younger stand. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 133 

Cutting series must be decided upon by the forest organizer 
during the progress of the field work in order to gauge the sac- 
rifices properly. They can be provisionally entered on the 
working map by using dotted arrows. 

Theoretically the cutting series are like steps, actually they 
are always somewhat irregular even under favorable conditions. 
In the map, $d and h, and $e, f, g, and i obviously belong to 
two cutting series. But 5/ is a separate proposition because it 
must be cut before 5// since it is more than twice as old (5/2 = 
23 years, 5^ = 52 years). 

Cutting series must be planned decades in advance, and 
require careful thought and accurate judgment. The cutting 
of such a series may require many years; early mistakes are 
difficult to correct. 

Cutting series are most necessary in even-aged stands of 
shallow-rooted species, and there they are of tremendous im- 
portance.* Their regular adoption in America is still of the 
future, but the principle can be utilized now. 

Plan or Cutting 

Having determined " how much " and " where " to cut 
during the ensuing working period, this is reduced to a docu- 
mentary plan of cutting or " felling budget." 

Two kinds of cutting plans should usually be drawn up: 
I, a general one for the entire working period — i.e., for the 
number of years during which the working plan is intended to 
apply, generally ten years; and II, a specific plan for the 
ensuing year. 

I. The general cutting plan provides cutting areas sufficient 
to yield (if the working period is ten years) at least ten times 
the volume of the allowed annual cut or ten times the area, 
as the case may be. It should, however, provide for some- 
what more, so as to furnish additional cutting areas in case of 

* By this means windfall is checked and controlled in the spruce forests of 
Saxony; the lack of cutting series is largely accountable for the tremendous 
windfall in the spruce stands of the Black Forest in Baden. 



134 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



H 

M 

o 

5 

o 



Ah 

O 
g 

H 
H 
P 

u 



O 



u 

Q 





So 

c 
« 

V 




Overmature. Seed cutting. 

Old stock, to be replanted. 

Mature. Seed cutting. 

Removal cutting, repro. 
complete. 60 per cent 
cut in 1902 by Sh. 






•J 

o 
H 

In 
O 

H 

W 
U 

w 

Oh 

Q 
<: 

H 
D 
U 

w 

o 


H 

W 
S 

o 

> 


"3 
4-1 



£& 

£* 


O UO <** 

"*■ 00 " O 


00 t** 

00_ M_ 


n 

■a 


& 






i 






E 


& 


00 t^ O 




s 


10 tr> O 
00 10 vo 


00 

M 




3 

a 
w 


ss 




vo vo O 




s 


O • O O 
*4- • vo Tf 
10 . vo Tf 


O 

vq_ ; 




M O O O 

vO 10 O O 


O • 


Present 

Age 

(1912) 

or age lmts. 


I60-200 
I60-200 
I4O-I60 
I4O-I60 


en 

"c5 

H 




Silvicult. 

Method 

(symbol) 

* 


■XT ryl jr J3 

CO £j CO CO 


+- 
a. 

T 

« 

t 

0. 


0^ 


^ '. '. '. 




-M 

3 
O 

TJ 

_o 

< 


Eg 
O 


Q\ O vO OO 




ml 




Tecums'h 
Tecums'h 
Tecums'h 
Tecums'h 



JS 




U 






vo 


u 


1-1 






,c 





ed 


2 




•a 


■n 





c 


j= 


ni 





co 


s 


0) 




e 


a 





3 



o 



4> J- 



2^ 



£ * 



A 


<u 


H 


a 


(A 


<4= 


a; 


[0 


J3 


13 


H H 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 135 

unforeseen contingencies making the cutting of certain areas 
impractical or allowing a higher cut than was originally intended. 
Under fairly regular conditions the cutting plan may cover the 
next twenty years, or even forty years, but under average Amer- 
ican conditions this is little better than a useless play. Nor, 
under most American conditions, is it necessary or advisable 
to prorate the increment to the middle of the cutting period. 
Such corrections had best be left to frequent revisions of the 
working plan at regular intervals. 

The general cutting plan should take the form * on preced- 
ing page: 

II. The specific cutting plan for the ensuing year, calendar 
or fiscal, is drawn up by the administrative officer in charge of 
the forest and submitted by him to his superior officers (if he 
has any) for approval. Thus it is really a part of administration 
and not of forest organization, yet it is closely linked thereto. 
The administrator, through his intimate knowledge of the forest 
and of the exact status of local conditions of logging, market, 
etc., selects from out the general cutting plan those areas which 
in his judgment should be cut during the ensuing year. On 
large forests he usually consults each ranger on the subject, f 
A convenient form for the annual cutting plan is as follows: 
This can be printed or otherwise manifolded and serve as a 
permanent record. (See next page.) 

In the following table, column 4 contains the estimated 
volume to be cut during the year. If instead of compartment 
10, compartment gb had been chosen, with its 540 M. of spruce, 
the value in column 4 would have been set as directly equal the 
allowed annual cut, or 120 M. Column 5 is always the volume 
actually cut. Column 6 is merely for convenience in checking 
the results of estimates as a guide to their accuracy. When 

* The figures are taken from the General Stand Table, Chapter I, Section 2, 
above. 

t In Prussia the Oberforster (supervisor) calls on each Forster (ranger) for 
an annual cutting plan for his district. These he then combines for the whole 
forest. 



136 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



CD 



ON 



£ r 







£ 


: 






: 






3 










a 


C 


















u 
z 


s 








. 


w 

Hi 




£ 






• 


w 












b 












Q 






vO 


o 






& 


t^. 


t4 


\ 








M 


M 






3 




















£ 














• 


ID 


>o 


• 






*=; 














ss 


S 




3 s 


o 

o 


o o 


o 




o 


O M 


cs 


U 










W 










■d 








-1 

o 


* "d 






; 


> 


a 








1-1 










D 




o 


o . 




H 
U 
< 




o 


o . 


• 


0) 










o 










2 S 










ft 










w 








H 


1 a 




s's 


2 : 


U 
w 


00 


lO O 

00 <S 




n 





















H 

w 










13 








J 


2 ^ 








o 


K 








> 

a 
w 










1m 


lO 


ID 




H 
•< 


E S 


00 


00 


* 


H 
W 










4) 

2 S 










Cfl 










•^ S'TT 














3 e is 














C/3 §C 














o 














j 






Eg 


o 








u) 




oi 










^ 




u 






c 


3 .3 
















r 


E^ 










C 






o B 
O 5 






C 


8 






e 

3 


"3 3 








0> 


ii c 
o = 


M 








H 


h 


< 







THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 137 

column 4 contains only part of a compartment, column 6 must 
be deferred until the entire compartment has been cut over. 

Where conditions are sufficiently intensive the table may 
include areas as well as volumes. 

Descriptions and further explanations can always be added 
if advisable for clearness. 

It is obvious that the cutting plan proper consists only o f 
columns i, 2, 3, and 4 and the comparison of column 4 with the 
allowed annual cut. But for purposes of convenience columns 
5 and 6 are added, thus making the record complete, though 
they cannot be filled until after cutting is finished. Based 
on this record, the cutting plan for 1913 is computed. Having 
saved 20 M. in 191 2, the administrator would not hesitate to 
cut 120+20 = 140 M. in 1913. Indeed, considerable leeway is cus- 
tomary in this respect, so as not to tie the administrator's hands.* 

At the end of the decade, if that is the working period, the 
annual cutting plan sheets are added up and the results com- 
pared with the general cutting plan; they then serve as most 
valuable data for the revision of the working plan. 



SECTION THREE 

REGULATION IN SPECIAL CASES 

This section considers the methods of regulating in special 
cases, such as, I abnormal forests, II transition forests, III 
wood-lots, and IV turpentine forests. Much of what has gone 
before will apply directly; it is only necessary here to note the 
exceptions and departures. 

I. Regulation of Abnormal Forests 

Strictly speaking all forests are abnormal which do not 
have a normal growing stock, a normal increment, and a normal 
distribution of the age classes. But in current usage the term 

* In Prussia the Oberforster (supervisor) may exceed the allowed cut by 
10 per cent without first seeking permission from his superiors. 



138 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

" abnormal " is restricted to those forests which show strik- 
ing irregularities — e.g., a very sparse, patchy stocking, or a 
marked excess of a single-age class. In the former case the 
chief aim is to secure a good stand. In the latter case it is 
sometimes possible, if the entire stand is mature or past maturity, 
to cut it all off at once, invest the resulting capital, and let the 
interest thereon take the place of the sustained timber yield. 

But ordinarily the timber owner needs timber rather than 
money in order to supply his saw-mills, pulp-mills, etc. In 
the case of the government it is obviously the correct political 
economy to be able to supply without undue interruption the 
necessary raw material to the timber-using industries dependent 
on the national or state forests. Furthermore, it is usually to 
the interest of the private owner to lumber conservatively and 
to plan for a second cut rather than to slash and abandon. By 
so doing he may, under favorable conditions, reasonably expect 
a 5 or 6 per cent return upon his investment* and, if the short- 
age of lumber becomes as great as is freely predicted, stumpage 
values will increase prodigiously and profits proportionately. 

Assuming, therefore, that the abnormal forest of a single age 
class is not to be exploited, but to be managed with a liberal 
construction of sustained yield, the regulation is as follows: 

If the age is less than - only thinnings are possible. 

2 

Y . • . 

If the age is more than - cutting is permissible, usually less 

2 

than the allowed annual cut up to the age of \y, usually more 
than the allowed annual cut beyond the age of f r. 

The object is to replace the excess of slow-growing mature 
and overmature stands by young, thrifty stands of rapid incre- 



* See " Possibilities of Private Forest Management in New York State," by 
C. H. Guise, Cornell University, Bulletin 375. See also " The Cost of Growing 
Timber in the Pacific Northwest." etc., by B. P. Kirkland, Seattle, Wash., 1915, 
reprinted from the University of Washington, Forest Club Annual. See also 
Chapman: " Forest Valuation," pp. 115-117, for excellent statements of the rela- 
tive importance of profits in private versus public forestry. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 139 

ment. This reduction of excess growing stock must never be 
brought about at the expense of glutting the timber market 
and forcing down prices. In America the silvicultural needs 
must, for the present at least, be subordinate to the economic 
demands. " In spite of the loss from deterioration, the country 
as a whole may be benefited more by reserving a considerable 
portion of these stands against the time of critical need than by 
cutting them off too rapidly, under present market conditions, 
in order to put the growing power of the soil to work." * 

II. Regulation of Transition Forests 

Forests in transition from high forest to coppice or, which 
is more frequently the case, from coppice to high forest, or from 
crude selection to even-aged forests, require special regulation. 

The transition from coppice to high forest involves the 
replacing of sprouts by seedlings. The process of conversion 
is, briefly, as follows: Instead of cutting the coppice at the 
thirtieth year or thereabouts, as is usually done, it is allowed to 
grow until the sixtieth year or thereabouts. If the coppice 
does not already contain sufficient seedling trees in mixture, 
these must be supplied artificially. During the last decades, 
it is necessary to free the crowns of the seed-bearing standards 
from the encroaching coppice. This is done by means of pre- 
paratory cuts at intervals of about ten years. 

When the coppice is about sixty years old, the reproduction 
cutting begins. This aims to open up the stand by cutting 
most of the coppice, allowing the seed from the standards to 
regenerate the area. The reproduction cutting is repeated four 
or five times at intervals of about five years, and gradually 
changes from cuts to seed up the area (or plant, if artificially) 
to cuts giving light to seedlings obtained, and at last to final 

* W. B. Greeley in " National Forest Sales on the Pacific Coast," " Proceed- 
ings of the Society of American Foresters," Vol. VII, No. i, p. 46. B. P. Kirk- 
land takes a different view in " The Need of Working Plans on National Forests 
and the Policies which should be Embodied in them," Proc. Soc. Am. Foresters, 
Vol. X, No. 4, pp. 341-375- 



140 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

removal cuttings. The last two cuts (light giving and final 
removal) operate not only in the coppice, but also in the seed- 
bearing standards which may be present (coppice with stand- 
ards) . 

The period of transition is thus thirty years' additional 
coppice plus twenty years of reproduction cutting if the coppice 
contains standards; otherwise extensive planting is necessary. 
The transition from coppice with standards to high forest is 
cheaper and easier than is the transition from straight coppice. 
Fifty years is the usual transition period, or about one-fourth 
to one-third the high-forest rotation. Even by planting the 
seedlings the time can only be shortened by greatly heightened 
annual expense unless the area to be transformed is small. 
There is also the danger of creating large areas of even-aged 
stands if too much is planted each year. 

The forest regulation consists of a general cutting plan 
for the whole period of transition. This cutting plan desig- 
nates for each of the stages of transformation the approximate 
amount to be cut and how the cut is to be conducted. Where 
the seedlings have to be introduced artificially, this must be 
supplemented by a careful planting plan, showing species, kind 
of stock, spacing, etc., and the amounts and areas to be planted 
in each stage of the transformation. 

It is obvious that the sustained yield suffers temporarily 
because of the cessation of coppice yields and the delay in 
securing high-forest yields. To minimize this delay it is often 
advisable to plant species of fairly rapid growth and hence low 
rotation age, such as chestnut, ash, pine, European larch, etc. 

The transition from selection forest to even-aged forest 
is comparatively simple, but requires one or two rotations. 
The object is secured by a change in the silvicultural method 
employed, and can be brought about in a variety of ways. 

The quickest and most useful is by means of shelterwood- 
selection cuttings, whereby the period of reproduction, that 
is, the space of time required for the renewal of the stand, 
is reduced from the entire rotation to thirty to fifty years. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 141 

With the next rotation the method can still further approach 
the shelterwood system, if conditions are favorable, and the 
period of reproduction reduced to from ten to fifteen years, 
resulting in virtually even-aged stands. 

Where the selection forest is already even-aged in groups, 
the transition can take advantage of this by employing the shel- 
terwood-group method. 

The forest regulation consists in modifying the general 
cutting plan to meet the changed conditions — i.e., a high cut 
during the reproduction period followed by a cessation of cut- 
ting until the young growth is merchantable, instead of the more 
frequently recurring cutting cycles of the selection forest. The 
general cutting plan is also extended so as to cover the entire 
reproduction period (thirty to fifty years) instead of merely 
a decade or so. 

III. Regulation of Wood-lots 

Wood-lots are seldom managed by a technically trained 
forester, hence the prescribed regulation must be so simple, 
clear, and direct that any layman can carry it out. The owner 
of the wood-lot is interested chiefly in having a sustained yield. 
This feature should, therefore, be emphasized by determining the 
allowed annual and periodic cut as exactly as possible by area 
or volume, or both. This should be incorporated in a detailed 
general cutting plan and the cutting areas for the next working 
period indicated on a map of the wood-lot. 

Where frequent revisions are possible, the prescriptions can 
be confined to the next decade or so, but where frequent revisions 
are out of the question the progress of management should be 
sketched for the whole rotation as a guide to the owner. 

The regulation of cut in wood-lots must conform primarily 
to the wishes and desires of the owner, but it can usually accom- 
plish these without the waste incident to haphazard manage- 
ment, and hence it is of the greatest value to draw up simple 
working plans even for small wood-lots. 



142 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

IV. Regulation of Turpentine Forests 

The imminent dearth of timber available for naval stores * 
emphasizes the urgent necessity of abandoning wasteful, destruc- 
tive methods of turpentining in favor of a more conservative 
utilization and a regulated yield. 

The field data necessary for the regulation of the turpentine 
yield are, besides a thorough acquaintance with the general and 
local turpentine business: 

(i) The distribution of the diameter classes on each manage- 
ment or survey unit.f This need not be by inch classes, but 
according to the cupping limits, explained below. Strip sur- 
veys, two chains wide, are excellent for this purpose. 

(2) The local turpentining quality of each stand, gauged by 
the number of cups per acre. 

(3) The amount and character of young growth below the 
minimum turpentining diameter for each management or survey 
unit, supplemented by detailed figures from sample areas more 
carefully measured, i.e., calipered instead of estimated ocularly. 

(4) The board measure contents of stands. The cord-wood 
contents of undergrowth, etc. 

(5) The silvical characteristics — maturity, height, thrift- 
iness, etc. 

(6) Diameter increment tables showing time required to 
grow from one diameter class to the next. 

For conservative turpentining, the use of a system of cup- 
ping is basic. Scarcely less so is the cupping to a diameter 
limit — e.g., no cups on trees below 11 inches in diameter, and 
never more than three cups on any tree. Furthermore, in order 
to prolong the productivity of the tree and minimize the injury, 
the chipping must be shallow and light. 

A definite rotation must be adopted for the working of the 

* See " The Naval Stores Industry," Bulletin 229, new series, U. S. Dept. of 
Agriculture. 

t E.g., blocks, compartments, subcompartments, or townships, sections, 
quarter-sections, etc. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 143 

crops * — e.g., by shallow and light chipping the first faces can 
be chipped for three years, when the faces will be about 45 to 
50 inches in height, the cups being moved up each year. Then 
the faces are worked with a " puller," a chipping tool with a 
long handle, for another three years, which makes the faces 
from 7 to 8 feet high. The tree is then allowed to recuperate 
for three years, when " back cups " are placed between the old 
faces and worked for three years. The final period of three 
years' working is secured from the high-face back cups. Thus 
each tree is worked for twelve years, extending over a period of 
fifteen. When the trees have been completely worked, they are 
cut for saw- timber, ties, or other material. f Certain of them 
are left as seed trees if that form of reproduction is sought, 
or else the seeding is from the side by the clearcutting strip 
method. In case of artificial reproduction, the worked and 
logged area is seeded or planted. When the young growth 
has reached sufficient size, the larger trees are turpentined, 
and thus the cycle is completed. % 

* A " crop " is commonly considered as containing 10,000 cups. 

t The turpentined trees of France are highly prized in England as mine tim- 
bers. 

% For further details, see " The Administration of a National Forest for Naval 
Stores," I. F. Eldredge, Proc. Soc. Am. Foresters, Vol. LX, No. 3, pp. 310-326. 



CHAPTER III 

THE WORKING-PLAN DOCUMENT 

SECTION ONE 

CONTENTS AND FORM 

The working-plan document is the vehicle for recording 
the salient features of a forest bearing on its organization and 
the detailed prescriptions of that organization for the next 
working period. Simplicity and brevity are the key-notes. The 
descriptive portion is usually confined to such short statements 
as suffice to bring to the trained forester's eye the picture of 
the forest as it is in its essentials, but, occasionally, a more 
detailed description is warranted so as to make the plan compre- 
hensible to a layman, e.g., where the plan is to be executed by a 
layman-owner. 

In the interests of clearness and brevity data should be 
tabulated wherever possible, e.g., estimates, stand tables, age- 
class tables, etc. Maps, also, are a powerful aid in graphic 
presentation of the data. 

The working-plan document may be confined to the silvi- 
cultural management, or it may cover all the activities of a 
forest such as general administration, grazing management, 
permanent improvements, forest protection, and use of forest 
land; in other words, be a complete forest plan. The desir- 
ability of including these sundry subjects depends on their 
importance and the purpose of the plan. National forests 
usually require complete plans. Where other subjects than that 
of silvicultural management are to be included, the descriptive 
data preceding the plan proper must be amplified accordingly. 

The essential contents of a working plan confined to silvi- 

144 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 145 

cultural management are (i) Orientation, i.e., location, size, 
history of forest with important changes, salient physiographic, 
social, and industrial features, time, method, and personnel of 
forest survey and work of organization, period for which made 
(working period), digest of working-plan conference, if had; 
(2) Foundation, i.e., growing stock (estimates) and increment, 
and (if even-aged) distribution of the age classes, stand and stock 
tables, maps, forest description, division of area; (3) Recom- 
mendation: method of management, past, present, and pro- 
posed, i.e., governing conditions, object of management, silvi- 
cultural method, rotation, etc.; (4) Regulation, i.e., deter- 
mination and distribution of the allowable cut, general and 
annual cutting plan, corresponding general and annual planting 
plans. 

These essentials may be presented in various forms, some 
of which are given in the following section, varying with the 
needs and desires of the administrative officers. The form of 
the working-plan document is comparatively unimportant. 
It may be typewritten or not, bound or unbound. If type- 
written it can be manifolded more easily; if plainly bound it 
resists handling better, and the working-plan document is 
meant to be used constantly, not put away on a library shelf 
for the admiration of visitors. To facilitate this use a 2-inch 
margin should be left at the side of the text throughout the 
document, excepting tables, for the purpose of allowing notes 
to be made from time to time by officers charged with the 
execution of the plan. This simple device keeps a plan alive 
and up to date and greatly facilitates the work of revision. 

The field work in connection with forest organization often 
results in the collection of many interesting and valuable silvi- 
cal and other data which, while germane to the working plan, 
are not a cognate part thereof. Such data, including volume 
growth, and yield tables, silvical notes, notes on climate, 
geology, soil, etc., should be placed in the appendix or else- 
where convenient, in order that everything in the plan may 
be confined to the actual scheme of management for the forest. 



146 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

i. Orientation 

(a) Location and Size. — The briefest mention suffices. 

(b) History of Forest with Important Changes. — Past and 
present ownership and administration, boundaries, past object 
of management, past revenues and expenditures. 

(c) Physiographic Features. — The physiographic features 
include topography, drainage, geology, soils, and climate. 
Detailed observations and statistics should be reserved for the 
appendix, and only the salient characteristics which influence 
the forest organization stated briefly. 

(d) Social and Industrial Features. — The social and indus- 
trial features include population, labor supply, local industries 
such as lumbering, grazing, mining, agriculture, etc., all in their 
bearing on the problems of forest organization. For it is evident 
that without adequate labor no forest resources can be developed, 
without lumbering facilities no regulation of the cut can be 
maintained or executed, and the very term " accessible " is 
modified by the degree of skill exercised in logging and the 
kinds of appliances used to get the timber. Again, the need 
of the local population for timber is the root of the theory of 
sustained yield. These fundamental phases require no detailed 
discussion, but brief statements of conditions in explanation of 
the plan proper. 

(e) Digest of Working Plan Conference. — If a conference 
was had between the forest organizer and the owner or admin- 
istrator of the forest, as suggested in Chapter I, Section i, this 
should be digested and added to the working-plan document 
with the names of the participants. 

(f) Time, Method, and Personnel of Forest Survey and 
Organization. — These statements should be exceedingly brief — 
a tabular form is advisable for time and personnel, since they 
are of purely historical interest. The method used should, 
however, be set forth in sufficient detail so that there can be 
no question as to how much weight attaches to the accuracy of 
maps and estimates. 



the theory and practice of working plans 147 

2. Foundation 

(a) Growing Stock (Estimates). — The estimates should be 
in form of a table by species and classes of timber, either separate 
stand and stock tables or as part of the general stand table. The 
details of this estimate table depend on the intensity of the entire 
plan. It will usually suffice to give the totals by compartments 
(if any) and blocks, or else by survey units such as sections, or 
even townships. Separate estimates may be given for each 
forest type. The estimate for the entire working unit must 
always be given. It must also be stated to what minimum 
diameter trees were estimated, and if available, what average 
deduction must be made for defect. Estimates in greater 
detail, e.g., section sheets showing the stand on each " forty," 
should be reserved for the appendix or for the files. Volume 
tables should be placed in the appendix. 

(b) Increment. — The increment, either current or mean 
annual, or else both, is given, and is expressed either in incre- 
ment per acre or as a per cent or both. Growth and yield 
tables on which the calculation of increment may be based 
should be included in the appendix. 

(c) Distribution of the Age Classes. — If the stand is even- 
aged or approximately so, a table of age-class distribution, like 
the example already given, should be included. Not only does 
such a table show at a glance the relation of young, mature, 
and overmature timber, but, in the revisions of the working 
plan, it shows by means of graphs or blocks what progress has 
been made toward the attainment of normality in this direction. 

(d) General Stand Table. — A table approximating, as far 
as possible, the example in Chapter I, Section 2, should be 
included as a convenient tabular summary of areas, volumes, 
and conditions of timber. 

(e) Maps can be elaborated to almost any extent according 
to the kind and importance of the data to be shown thereon. 
The following are the most important: 

(1) A topographic map showing topography in contours, 



148 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

seldom hachures; roads, trails, railroads, saw-mills, and all other 
" culture "; drainage. This map is the " base " and should be 
of a convenient scale, such as h, i, 2, 4, or even more inches 
to the mile, depending on the size of the tract and the amount 
of detail to be shown. It should be drawn so as to permit of 
being manifolded in order that all officers charged with the 
administration of the forest and the execution of the working 
plan may be furnished with copies. On this " base " can be 
added any or all of the following special data in so far as the 
wealth of detail will not confuse the whole. 

(2) Boundary map showing the ownership (status), the 
forest boundary or boundaries; survey lines, if any; boundary 
or boundaries of the working units, blocks, compartments, and 
subcompartments. 

(3) Forest-type map, showing the various forest types, 
also cut-over areas, burns, open " parks," etc. 

(4) Age-class map, showing the distribution of the various 
age classes on the ground. 

(5) Site-quality map, showing the distribution of the various 
site qualities. 

(6) Soil map, showing the various soils and geologic forma- 
tions of the forest. 

(7) Reproduction map, showing areas of good, fair, and poor 
reproduction. 

(8) Cutting map, to accompany the general cutting plan, 
showing areas to be cut over within the next working period, 
also those already cut over. 

(9) Planting map, to accompany the general planting plan, 
showii.g areas to be restocked artificially during the next 
working period, and areas already planted or sown, all nur- 
series and proposed nursery sites. 

If the plan is to be a complete forest plan, and not confined 
to the silvicultural management, there may be the following 
additional maps: 

(10) Fire map, to accompany the fire plan, showing all look- 
out points, watch towers, lines of patrol, ranger headquarters, 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 149 

fire-guard stations, location of fire-fighting tools, and places 
whence assistance in fighting fire may be obtained. The base 
should be maps i and 3 combined. 

(11) Permanent improvement map, to accompany the per- 
manent improvement plan showing all improvements, existing 
or proposed, such as ranger stations, fire cabins, telephone 
lines, etc. 

(12) Grazing map, to accompany the grazing plan showing 
the grazing types, condition of the range, the portions grazed 
(and by what class of stock) or ungrazed, the winter, summer, 
or year-long range, corrals, pastures, drift fences, water tanks, 
etc. 

Lest too many data be placed on one map, it is better to 
have separate maps than to combine too much and cause con- 
fusion. For ordinary purposes, however, the following maps 
may well be combined : 

Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4. Topography, boundaries, types, age- 
classes.* 

Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8. Topography, boundaries, types, 
reproduction, cutting. 

Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 9. Topography, boundaries, types, plant- 
ing. 

Various methods of regulating the cut require special data 
on the map, e.g., if the regulation is to be by area reduced accord- 
ing to site classes (method No. 1, variation II; method No. 14, 
variation II; method No. 16, variation II, also method No. 17, 
Nos. I and III), then a site-class map (No. 5) is necessary. 

Detailed maps of survey units or of small areas which it is 
desired to show in greater detail should be placed in the appen- 
dix, as should also special maps showing areas of insect or 
fungus attacks, etc. 

(f) Forest Description. — Must be concise and free from 
burdensome details. Silvical details, methods and costs of 
logging and milling, etc., had better be placed in the appendix 

* If even-aged or approximately so. 



150 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

or in a special file. The forest description of the entire working 
unit should be a careful summary of the description for each 
block.* The aim is to present a lucid picture of the forest as 
it is in the essential silvical factors bearing on the plan of man- 
agement adopted. The description must be ample reason for 
the provisions of the working plan. The description is the 
premise; the recommended management the logical deduction 
from that premise. 

(g) Division of Area. — On the basis of the forest description, 
the division of area should be so evidently logical as to require 
very little special justification. However, it is well to explain 
briefly what considerations governed in the choice of working 
unit, block, compartment, and subcompartment, in so far as 
this was not already covered in the digest of the working-plan 
conference. Since the working unit usually has a sustained 
yield, its adequacy from this viewpoint should be considered 
along the broad lines already laid down. 

3. Recommendation 

The recommended management should be the logical sequel 
of the data given under " Orientation " and " Foundation." 
The basic considerations of object of management, of silvi- 
cultural method of management, and of rotation are con- 
tained in Chapter I, Section 3. This part of the working- 
plan document should review the governing conditions which 
determine the recommended management. These are: 
I (a) Object of Management. — i.e., the wishes and purpose 
of the owner (in so far as not already contained in the digest 
of the working-plan conference). 

(b) Practical Restrictions of market, logging accessibility, 
fire danger, erosion danger, etc. 

(c) Silvicultural Method of Management which can best 
fulfill the object of management with the given silvical conditions 

* A good example of such a forest description will be found in Bulletin n of 
the N. Y. State Conservation Commission, " Forest Survey of a Parcel of State 
Land," Albany, 191 5. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 151 

and under the practical restrictions imposed. Past manage- 
ment and its mistakes and lessons should be reviewed and the 
proposed method of management given in detail. The best 
silviculture is not always possible under existing conditions, 
and the organizer must seek to combine the three divergent 
factors of object of management, practical restrictions, and 
silvical requirements into a harmonious scheme of management. 
This should cover: 

(i) Silvicultural method for each type with brief description 
thereof. 

(2) Rotation chosen, with reasons for its adoption. The 
period of reproduction, cutting cycles, etc., should be given 
and made entirely clear. 

(3) Marking rules to be followed in the execution of the 
cuttings for natural reproduction. They should be clear and 
concise, simply put so as to be readily intelligible to the non- 
technical man charged with their execution, sufficiently elastic 
to cover all cases. Good marking rules will do much toward 
insuring the actual execution of the silvicultural method decided 
upon, especially when backed by sample areas marked by the 
forest organizer as a concrete illustration. 

(4) Brush disposal rules are a necessary concomitant of the 
marking rules. Here too actual examples of what is desired 
should reinforce the written rules. 

4. Regulation 

As the recommended management (3) is the logical out- 
growth of the data given under Orientation (i) and Foundation 
(2), so the regulation of the cut itself is but the carrying out of 
the Recommendation (3). 

The chief phases of regulation are : 

(a) Determination of the Allowable Cut by one or more of 
the methods already described. Where working groups are 
formed, each requires a separate determination of the cut. 

(b) Distribution of the Allowable Cut. — Selection of stands to 
be cut, formation of cutting series, etc., with concise reason for 



152 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

the choice; cutting policy in so far as not covered already in the 
digest of the working-plan conference. 

(c) General Cutting Plan for the next working period accord- 
ing to the example given above. It should contain in addition 
recommendations in regard to stumpage rates, methods of log- 
ging, rules of cutting to prevent waste, -and other features of 
practical utilization such as probable purchasers, uses and mar- 
kets, etc. An annual cutting plan for the ensuing year is usually 
drawn up by the administrative officer in charge of the forest, 
and does not as a rule form a part of the working-plan document. 

(d) General Planting Plan for the next working period 
according to the example given below. A description of the 
methods and cost of nursery, planting, and seeding practice 
to be employed. An annual planting plan for the ensuing 
year is usually drawn up by the administrative officer in charge 
of the forest, and does not, as a rule, form a part of the working- 
plan document. 

Note. — In addition to the general working plan, annual or periodic plans 
may be based on the general working plan and may refer to any specified class 
of work, as the annual cutting, planting, protection, grazing or administration and 
improvement plan. Such annual plans may be either mere schedules or may con- 
tain more or less detail, explanations, estimates of cost and results, as seems 
desirable. 



SECTION TWO 

OUTLINES FOR WORKING PLAN 

Three typical outlines for working-plan documents will be 
given. A. The Prussian outline, typical of forest organization 
in countries based on forest-rent.* B. The Saxon outline, 
typical of forest organization in countries based on soil-rent,* 
and, C, an outline typical for the average extensive conditions 
existing in America. This last includes all the phases of a com- 
plete forest plan. 

* See " Rotation," p. 61. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 153 

A. Prussian Outline 

Introduction. — Working period (two decades). Revision 
(every decade). Name of forest organizer and assistants. 

i. Letter of minister (secretary) putting plan into effect. 
2. Plan of management. 

Digest of working-plan conference. 

Introduction. Time and scope of work. 

General position and history of the forest. 

The measurements. 

a. Maps. 

(i) Special maps (large scale). 

(2) Location map (small scale). 

(3) Map of servitudes. 

b. Record of measurements. 

(4) Boundaries. 

(5) Table of measurements (survey notes). 

(6) Record of changes in area. 

(7) Record of changes in servitude. 
Division of area. 

(8) Ranger districts and blocks. 

(9) Compartments. 
(10) Subcompartments. 

Condition of stand, 
(n) Site. 

(a) Exposure. 

(b) Soil. 

(12) Stand. 

(a) Species. 

(b) Distribution of the age classes. 

(13) Injuries. 

(a) Fire. 

(b) Storm (wind). 

(c) Frost. 

(d) Drought. 



154 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(e) Fungus. 
(/) Insects. 

(14) Market conditions. 

(15) Labor conditions. 

(16) Servitudes. 

Regulation of cut and plan of management. 

(17) Former management. 

(18) Basis of present regulation of cut. 

(a) Rotation. 

(b) Plan of cut. 

(c) Calculation of cut. 

(19) Method of cutting. 

(20) Method of reproduction. 
Miscellaneous. 

(21) Financial yield. 

(22) By-products. 

(23) Hunting and fishing. 

(24) Forest protection and policing. 

(25) Fiscal matters. 

(26) Communal relations, i.e., with communally-owned 

forests. 

(27) Other matters of interest. 

3. Boundary register (status records). 

4. General stand tables. 

5. Area tables. 

6. Table of servitudes. 

7. Plan of thinnings. 

8. Resume of communal conditions. 

B. Saxon Outline 

Part One. Introduction. Working period (one decade). 
Revision (every five years). 

General stand tables (areas and volumes). 
Site-quality * table and comparison of increments. 

* " Standorts bonitat." 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 155 

Comparison of age classes and volume (growing stock). 
Table of age-class distribution in per cents and area.* 
Stand-quality table. f 
Results of past management, 
(i) Final cuttings. 

(2) Intermediate cuttings. 

(3) Total yield. 

(4) Yield by cutting areas. 

(5) Money yield from cuttings. 

(6) Plantations, also care of plantations and of the 

stand. 

(7) Road and trail building. 

(8) Summary of net soil rent (Boden reinertrag). 
Determination of the allowable cut for the five years 

until the next revision. 
General rules of management. 
Part Two. General cutting plan. 
Part Three. General planting plan. 

C. American Outline (suggested) 

1. Orientation. 

a. Location and size of forest (working unit). 

b. History of forest with important changes. 

(1) Past and present ownership (status). 

(2) Boundaries. Interior surveys. 

(3) Past object of management and general administra- 

tion. 

(4) Past revenues and expenditures. 

c. Physiographic features. 

(1) Topography. 

(2) Drainage. 

(3) Geology (formation). 



* Diagrammatically by means of blocks. See Diagram D, p. 19. 
t " Bestands bonitat." 



156 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(4) Soils (depth, fertility, etc.). 

(5) Climate (maximum, minimum, and average .tem- 

perature, rainfall, prevailing wind direction). 

d. Social and industrial features. 

(1) Population. Dependence on forest for work and 

fuel and timber supply. 

(2) Labor supply. 

(3) Local conditions — lumbering, grazing, mining, agri- 

culture, etc. Interrelation with forest. 

e. Digest of working-plan conference. 

/. Time, method, and personnel of field work. Cost, if 
desired. 

2. Foundation. 

a. Growing stock (estimates). Tabulation. (Stand and 

stock tables if uneven-aged.) 

b. Increment per acre or per cent or both. 

c. Distribution of the age classes. Tabulation. (Diam- 

eter classes if uneven aged.) 

d. General stand table. Tabulation. 

e. Maps. Statement of maps prepared. The maps them- 

selves should go in the back of the plan or else be 

kept on file separately. 
/. Forest description. 
g. Division of area. Working unit, block, compartment, 

subcompartment. Working group if necessary. 

3. Recommendation. 

a. Object of management. Wishes and purpose of the 

owner (policy, if national or state forest). Exploita- 
tion or sustained yield (annual, periodic). Produc- 
tion of cordwood, sawtimber, pulpwood, turpen- 
tine, etc. 

b. Practical restrictions. Market, logging accessibility, 

special danger from fire, erosion, avalanches, etc. 

c. Silvicultural method of management. 

(1) Silvicultural method or methods, their proposed 
application. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 157 

(2) Rotation (period of reproduction, cutting cycle, etc.). 

(3) Marking rules. 

(4) Rules for brush disposal. 

4. Regulation. 

a. Determination of cut. 

b. Distribution of cut. Formation of cutting series, etc. 

c. General cutting plan for working period. 

d. General planting plan for working period. 

5. Administrative plan. 

a. Scheme of field administration. 

(1) Administrative districts and area. 

(2) Field and office force, year-long and temporary. 

b. Forecast of receipts and expenditures and net income 

for working period. 

6. Grazing plan. 

a. Description of forage types and condition of range. 

b. Protection and development of range. 

(1) Range improvements. Watering facilities. 

(2) Treatment of overgrazed and partly stocked areas. 

(3) Measures for fuller use of range. 

(4) Control and eradication of poisonous plants. 

(5) Control and extermination of predatory animals, 

prairie dogs, and other pests. 

c. Grazing control. Capacity of range. Grazing districts 

and allotments. 

7. Permanent-improvement plan. 

a. General. 

b. Telephone. 

c. Look-out towers. 

d. Fire cabins and tool-boxes. 

e. Roads and trails. 
/. Ranger stations. 

8. Forest- protection plan. 

a. Fire control. 

(1) Nature of fire problem. 

(2) Past fires. Bearing on the plan. 



158 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(3) Hazards. Danger zones, extra fire risks, necessity 

of special measures. 

(4) Cooperation. Desirable and proposed cooperation. 

(5) Scheme of protection. 

(a) Primary control by look-outs. 

(b) Secondary control by patrol and actual combat. 

(6) Organization. Look-outs and patrolmen. Action 

in case of fire. 

(7) Mobilization. 

(a) Fire-fighters, regular and volunteer, available. 

(b) Transportation. Logging railroads, pack trains, 

teams, etc. 

(c) Tools, equipment, and supplies. Location of 

tool-boxes. Bases of supplies. 

(8) Improvements. Additional headquarters, telephone 

lines, trails, etc., required. 

b. Insect control 1 and other special problems warranting 

c. Fungus control J inclusion. 

9. Uses of forest land. 

a. Settlement. 

(1) Classification of lands, whether of relatively greater 
value for agriculture or for forest purposes. 

(2) Sale prices of land. Comparative land values. 

(3) Cost of clearing land for agriculture and probable 

profits of agriculture thereon. 

b. Special uses. 

c. Water-power sites. Present and future development. 

Stream measurements. 

10. Appendix (observations not properly a part of the main 

working plan). 

a. General data — geology, soils, climate, occurrence and 

protection of fish and game. 

b. Silvical data. 

(1) Volume, growth, and yield tables. 

(2) List of component species. 

(3) Silvical characteristics of component species. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 159 

(a) Soil and moisture requirements. 

(b) Influence of elevation and aspect. 

(c) Tolerance. 

(d) Reproduction. 

(e) Injuries: fire, storm, frost, drought, fungus, 

insects, etc. 
c. Detailed estimates, maps, forest descriptions, etc., of 
survey units or other units, unless filed elsewhere for 
greater convenience. 



SECTION THREE 

THE PLANTING PLAN 



This is properly an integral part of every working plan, 
but in order to avoid confusion, and not to encumber the 
subject of timber regulation, detailed mention has been reserved 
for this section. 

Some planting operations are necessary in every well-regu- 
lated forest, whether it be to eke out a too scanty natural repro- 
duction or to restock former forest areas where natural repro- 
duction is out of the question. 

Just as a general cutting plan is drawn up for the intended 
cuttings in the ensuing working period, so a general planting 
plan is drawn up to cover all the operations of artificial repro- 
duction which are contemplated during the ensuing working 
period. From out this general planting plan the administra- 
tive officer in charge of the forest selects those areas whose 
restocking he deems of the most immediate importance and 
incorporates them into an annual planting plan which, with the 
approval of his superior officers, becomes the planting schedule 
for the ensuing year. 

As a preamble to the general planting plan should come a 
general discussion of the areas needing artificial reproduction, 
the extent to which it is expedient to go in replanting com- 
mensurate with the results to be obtained, and other phases of 



160 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

the policy to be pursued in the choice of areas. In general, 
it is advisable to restock first those areas on which success 
seems most assured, leaving for the future with its greater 
experience and presumably greater capital those areas where 
immediate success is less certain. For most administrations 
profit by making a good initial " showing " and once the way 
is paved the more difficult operations can be undertaken even 
though they fail to make so good a " showing." Other things 
being equal, the money return from a planting is surer, larger, 
and sooner the better the site and the quicker the success of the 
operation. 

This should be followed by a full discussion of the methods 
of reproduction to be employed. First the results of past plant- 
ings and sowings, accentuating the reasons for failure or success, 
and then the policy for future planting and sowing. The source 
of plant material — seeds, seedlings, and transplants should be 
considered; the seed should be shown to be from reliable and 
appropriate sources (sources suitable to the climatic and site 
conditions), and the planting stock preferably grown in nurseries 
on the forest or else secured from outside nurseries whose site 
corresponds approximately to that of the intended planting 
site. If there are to be nurseries on the forest, the preamble 
of the general planting plan gives full provisions for their 
location, creation, and maintenance, and should contain the 
area thereof in seed-beds and their capacity, the area thereof in 
transplant beds and their capacity, and the proposed annual 
production by species and classes of stock.* 

The areas which it is intended to plant or sow during the 
coming working period should be indicated on the working 
map of the forest either by color, or shading, or symbols. 

The annual planting plan may conveniently take the forms 
on pages 162 and 163, a separate head being used for plant- 
ings and seedings. 

The general planting plan may conveniently take the form 
shown on page 161. 

* See Toumey: " Seeding and Planting," John Wiley and Sons, N. Y., 1916. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OE WORKING PLANS 161 



H 

55 

o 



On 



* 



H 



W 
55 
W 

o 








W 










M 






H 






CI) 






E 






CI 






rt 










■d 










J3 






























*5 






+3 








u 


E 








z 


< 


















Q 










a 










w 


CU 








(/) 


0) 

a 






a 










o 











a 






O 










H 

w 




to 

°u 
a 
a 
w 






M 










o 








o 











z 


w 








H 

z 
















<: 


(U 








j 










a. 


o 

a 
w 






a 










o 










rt 










eu 










w 






i 






5 u <y 

(LI-2 . 






rt§2 






5 G 


















5r s s 












E s.^ 






^ ^^ 






w^S 






§ a 






< rt 






T3 








13 








rt o.t: 








c-s • e 








Jgsp 

« o E Jj 








^g!! 












"c3 






o 




« 






H 





162 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 






M 
* 

<u 

a 
u 

<v 

p 



.2 

H 

a 

B 

V 








o 

H 

D 
U 

w 

u 


4-1 

o 
U 






a 






o 

o 






'o 
u 

a 






o 








1-1 
C3 




z 

o 

H 

a. 

3 

u 
1/1 
w 
S 

Ph 


o 

u 






bo 
'u 

a 
w 






o 






0) 

°o 

a 
w 






o 






HI 

< 


0) 
M 
O 




a 
>. 
H 






1 


a 
o 

3 




C 





THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



1G3 





E 
i 
PS 










o 

H 

U 
W 

R 
W 


s 

o 
















1 


o 

a 






CO 

o 
eu 

a 








a 
o 

CO 

a) 






-J 
g 

P 


cu 
1 


CO 
V 
H 

u 




55 
o 
B 

h 

2 

o 

W 

3 
Ph 


■U 

o 
U 








.g 
2 


' 




< 


d 

(3 

HI 

a 






D 

a 








d 
o 

CO 
(3 

I 








cu 

< 


u 

o 






u 

a 

H 










a 
o 

o 
o 




*c3 
o 



164 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

SECTION FOUR 

CONTROL AND REVISION OF WORKING PLAN 

No working plan can remain alive and useful unless it is 
revised at frequent, more or less regular intervals. These 
revisions incorporate all the changes which have taken place 
during the working period. Such renewals may be made at 
fixed intervals of say ten years, or at irregular intervals, as 
is commonly the case where revised data or changes in prevail- 
ing market conditions, etc., necessitate modification of the 
original plan. 

Since the working period is usually ten years, the working- 
plan document is usually revised every decade. But under 
very intensive conditions more frequent revision may be justi- 
fied, even to the extent of every five years. On the other hand, 
a plan should not, ordinarily, go without revision for more than a 
decade, even though the working period be longer, e.g., two 
decades, or even four, as in Prussia and Austria, respectively. 

Especially under the kaleidoscopically changing conditions 
in most parts of America is it desirable to have frequent revisions 
so that the working plan may really " work " and not become 
obsolete within the working period. Special revisions before the 
end of the working period are, of course, necessitated when- 
ever, through storm, purchase, or the like, a substantial change 
is caused in the size, character, or composition of the forest. 

The record of the progress of the work on the forest as 
outlined by the working plan is called the working plan control. 
This control operates as a check on the execution of the working 
plan. In European practice these records are kept by maps 
and books. The entries are made periodically or at the time 
of completing each of the various projects. The books (called 
" Control Books ") may conveniently be divided into two 
parts: I, the cutting and planting record; II, the general or 
" history " book. The former may conveniently take the 
following form (page 165). 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



165 






\4 
O 
O 

o 

(A 
H 
55 
O 

u 



a 
w 

H 

< 


O u 


rH 






CO 
r-t 




o c3 
SscS 






<J u 
D 
rv-t-> 

wen 






T3 

3 


O 




Rl 

CI 
>- 


05 




H 

D 

u 


53 


00 




•a 


!> 






to 




W E 


it) 




H 


<tf 




1 •*-» 

I s 

8e 

■Sti 


CO 




■M 

IE 
O 


a 






A) 

u 
o 

s 


rH 





03 73 3 60 Cl> 
'~ W'o 3 "> 



D 03 



1- W U ^ ■" cd « 



-, 4-1 CU >-. 

■5 im.jj o 

a 



.S3 T3 



c a 



[d . 



55 « 

rt -4-4 u, .. 4*» 

- 1) 1) H 

§5 £^ 



£5^Q 15 o3 



tJ "O ^ "S <U 03 

& J2 ^ ac >; 

»«i t! h O »i 

14-1 O •"" 

O^ o3 

o3 <U 



^53 



C/i = ^ 5 S </i 



- S* « S rt -x, ■ 



a cs £ 



£ 3 






s s i-« 



OU U 
& « 

a-" <u 

—1 <LJ 



u E 



Ji w . " tn jv V) v O 

~ C" d ^ £ n «2 to «J 

t, O.E O <L> "^ 4» jj a -3 

S-5 P'H £ « a£ a ^ 






p u .2 



a 





3 


- ; 




^ ^ 














O 










U 








> 

u 


0) 


O 

c 




2 .5 c 

0) 3 S 
60 U-n 


_2 


XJ 


_> 


V: 






3 




r, 




C 


3 


in 
3 


3 oi C >> 


<D 


3 


</3 


— c3^ 


g 

3 

a 


o 

0) 

tn 
•I 

O 


Ih 

o 

C r/i 


4 ~2 

"in 

u 


S.2 2-« 
> -2 

60 QJ r- O 

3 -L u 

•2 U ^<S) 




c 


t, 3 





rt ij -^ 4-T 

"> a u M 


4-" 

ll 

o 


■M 
ll 

c3 

a 
E 


O 2, 03 

(J 3 — . 


<U Cd j. Ih 

^rC 3 £ 

S 1 ^ 3 a 

d O cd 
° "" §M 

c« -— cd w 

^ cd v 


o 

3 


o 
u 


tJ '"jo 

3 o^ 3 


3 

cd 


O 


<u a> ° 


u 


• -o -a f. - 


E 


■3-Q 

3 3 


a c u 

3 3 0) 

UO g I/) 


a 

(A 


2-3 rt * § 
^ <1> w S &. 


» 


^ 


fc 


^3 


S H 


M 


N 


CO 


LTj 


\o t^ 


c 










£ 










3 































U 











166 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

It is obvious that this Part I of the control book is built up 
from the annual cutting and planting plans. It embodies their 
essentials in convenient form as a permanent record. It can, of 
course, be extended to cover all the activities of the forest 
besides " timber," e.g., grazing. A column for areas can also 
be added between columns 3 and 4 if desired. 

A separate page is kept for each convenient unit — be it block 
or compartment, township or section, depending on the needs of 
the administration. 

All areas cut or planted are to be entered on the map of the 
forest. 

Part II, the " history " book, contains convenient headings 
for a general record of the various forest activities. Such are: 

1. Forest survey and boundaries: a running record of the 
forest surveys made and proposed, be it for timber, grazing, or 
what not, and of the changes in boundaries and the demarca- 
tion in the field of the boundaries.* 

2. Methods of cutting and planting: a running record of 
silvical observations in natural and artificial reproduction. 

3. Forest protection: a running record of all important forest 
menaces; the method and success of the combat with them. 
Such are: 

(a) Fire. 

(b) Storm. 

(c) Frost. 

(d) Drought. 

(e) Fungi. 

(/) Insects, etc. 

Chapters can be added at will for the other forest activities 
covered in a forest plan, such as: 

* This may also include the Status Records, that is, records showing the 
ownership of newly acquired lands. Complete status records will show in detail 
the chain of title for each parcel of land and also all servitudes and easejnents 
attaching to the land. In addition, they usually show the location and extent 
of all qualified or temporary alienations such as unpatented mineral claims, leased 
areas, or lands -otherwise specifically under permit or affected by outstanding 
contracts, as for the sale of timber, etc. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 167 

4. Administration. 

5. Grazing. 

6. Permanent improvements. 

7. Uses of forest land. 

8. Utilization of forest products. 

(a) Methods and costs of logging. 

(b) Methods and costs of saw-milling. 

(c) Markets and prices of stumpage and lumber or 

other products. 

(d) Utilization of by-products. 

(e) Impregnation of wood (wood preservation), etc., 

ad lib. 

9. Game and the chase. 

10 Money returns of management. 

(a) Gross income and expense. 

(b) Net income. 

1 1 . Personnel relations. 

12. Miscellaneous data. 

Such a control book, together with the summarized annual 
cutting and planting plans, corrected maps, and the marginal 
notes and corrections in the plan itself, forms a perfectly ade- 
quate basis for undertaking the periodic revision. 

The thoroughness of the revision depends on the correctness 
of the original plan. Only rarely should it be necessary to 
rewrite the entire plan. Those portions which come under 
" Orientation," such as physiographic features, social and indus- 
trial features, and under " Foundation," such as forest descrip- 
tion, division of area, etc., can either be incorporated directly 
in the new working plan, or else reference made to the original 
working plan covering these portions in detail. 

In matters of determination and distribution of the cut as 
embodied in the general cutting and planting plans, the revision 
is essentially a recalculation and reallotment. 

The preliminary of every revision should be a working-plan 
conference to review the plan for the working period just passed 
and to make suggestions for the ensuing period. The digest of 



168 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

this conference should be incorporated in the revised working 
plan. 

If the forest is essentially even-aged, the revised working 
plan should contain under " Orientation ": " History of forest 
with important changes," a diagrammatic presentation of the 
distribution of the age classes, showing graphically the gradual 
approach (presumably) towards normality in this respect. This 
may be shown either by means of a graph or by means of pro- 
portionate blocks (see Diagram D, p. 19). 



PART TWO 
PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



Practice of Working Plans 



CHAPTER I 
IN EUROPE 

SECTION ONE 

GERMANY 



The chief States of Germany from the standpoint of forestry 
are: Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wiirttemberg, Baden, and 
Alsace-Lorraine. For each of these will be given, after a sum- 
mary of the salient conditions, such as size of country and 
forests, topography, species, markets, etc., a brief review of the 
history of working plans, the chief foundations of plans, the 
methods of regulating the cut, and the prescriptions for control 
and revision of the working plan. The same scheme will be 
followed for the data about France and Austria (Sections 2 and 3). 

I. Prussia 

Prussia is by far the largest of the German States, with 
86,118,526 acres, or about 65 per cent, of the total German 
Empire. Of these 86,118,526 acres, 20,427,179 acres, or 23.72 
per cent, are in forest. 

Prussia contains widely varying topography, from the very 
characteristic plains of the northeast to the lesser ranges along 
the Austrian frontier (Riesengebirge) and in the east-central 
portions (Harz, Teutoburger Wald, Taunus, etc.). 

171 



172 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

If one considers Germany as roughly divided into three main 
forest regions by a line from the corner of Bohemia, at Eger, 
northward through Hannover into Liibeck on the Baltic, and 
another line from Hannover westward to Amsterdam, the large 
northeast block may be called the pine region, the small north- 
west block the heath region, and the remaining southwest block 
the hardwood-spruce-fir region. Practically all of the pine 
region is contained within Prussia, and this explains the pre- 
ponderating percentage of Scotch pine — 60 per cent as against 
12 per cent of spruce and fir, 5 per cent of oak, 15 per cent 
of beech, and 4 per cent of birch and alder — in Prussia. 

The markets for Prussian forests products are so excellent 
as to admit of the profitable placing of all classes of timber with 
only minor exceptions. 

During the nineteenth century the period method of regulat- 
ing the cut (" Fachwerksmethoden," i.e., " Framework Meth- 
ods " — see method No. 17) predominated in Prussia. At 
first, owing to the influence of G. L. Hartig, it was a strict 
volume-period method (" Massenfachwerk," i.e., volume frame- 
work). The official instructions of 18 19 provide a detailed 
allotment by volume and classes of material for each of the 
six periods of the 120-year rotation. The impracticability of 
such calculations without adequate bases soon brought a 
change from Kartig's strict method, the more so since such 
slow progress was being made toward the goal of having work- 
ing plans for each forest. Therefore, in 1836, after a provisional 
regulation of the cut had been accomplished between 1826 and 
1835, a new order for regulatmg the cut was issued which re- 
mained in force almost to the end of the century. Though still 
based on the volume-framework method, the calculation of 
cut was simplified, and the equality of area was also taken into 
consideration together with a correct distribution of the age 
classes and the formation of cutting series. With the intro- 
duction of the factor of area, the volume-period method (Massen- 
fachwerk) fell into abeyance and the combined period method 
(Kombiniertes Fachwerk) came to be used for less regular stands, 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



173 



the area-period method (Flachenf achwerk) for the more regular 
conditions.* 

Of late the calculation of cut has been more and more 
confined to the ensuing period (the I period), paying little or 
no attention to the periods following (periods II, III, IV, V, 
and VI). This is especially marked in the instructions for 
1912,1 which go a long way toward ameliorating the strict 
" framework " methods. Wagner considers them an abandon- 
ment of the " framework " methods. J 

The general cutting plan takes the following form: 
Column 1 a Block and compartment. 
Subcompartment. 
Soil description. 
Site quality. Average height. 
Average age and age limit. 
Percentage of stocking (density). 
Form of mixture (scattered, groupwise, etc.) 
Percentage of chief species in mixture. 
Species (repeated between columns 18 and 19). 
Defects and diseases. 
Area of the whole compartment, 
over 120 years 
101-120 
81-100 
61- 80 



ib 



4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 



12 

13 

'4 

15 
16 

17 J 



Area by 
Age 

Classes 



I 



II 
III 
IV 

V 
VI 



41- 

21- 

I- 



60 
40 

20 



area in hectares. 



* For outline of Prussian working plan, see p. 153. 

t " Anweisung zur Ausfuhrung von Betriebsregelungen in den Preussischen 
Staatsforsten vom 17. Marz, 191 2." 

X Wagner, in the third edition of Lorey's " Handbuch der Forstwissenschaft," 
Vol. Ill, p. 463, takes the position that the new instructions (1912) " entirely 
abandon the ' framework ' methods (No. 17) and go over to the method by age 
classes (No. 16); one must not be deceived by the retention of the ' framework ' 
terminology ... An assignment of areas and volume, to all the periods of the 
rotation no longer takes place; under difficult conditions only 'are the first and 
second periods to be provided for.' " 



174 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

1 8 Unstocked blanks. 

19 Cutting area of the I period, in hectares. 

20 Cutting area of the II period in hectares. 

21 Silvicultural method to be used. 

22 Species to be reproduced. 

23 Remarks. Explanations of measures adopted. 
Reasons for departures from the usual rotation 
age. 

The block and the ranger district usually coincide. Working 
groups (" Betriebsklassen ") are segregated whenever there are 
salient differences in species, rotation, or method of management. 

The block is subdivided into rectangular units called 
" Jagen " (" hunts ") in the plains, " Distrikte " (" districts ") 
in the mountains. The boundaries are roads or topographic 
features (ridges, streams, etc). The average size in pine stands 
is from 49.4 to 74.1 acres; in spruce stands, from 24.7 to 49.4 
acres. 

Subcompartments are not segregated for minor differences, 
and never for less than 2.47 acres (1 hectare). 

To insure continuity of records the numbers and boundaries 
of blocks, compartments, etc., are not changed except for urgent 
reasons. 

The soil and rock description is usually taken directly from 
the geological survey maps. 

The site quality is usually gauged by means of the average 
height as given in yield tables published by the experiment 
station. The average height is determined by hypsometer 
measurements of trees in representative stands or, where less 
important, merely estimated. 

In uneven-aged stands in which the age classes blend one 
into the other, the age limits and average age are indicated; 
where the age classes are widely divergent (e.g., very young and 
mature) they are entered separately. Great weight attaches 
to the age class and area table. 

The criterion of cutting the sustained yield is the normal 
area of the period. This is determined by the proportion of the 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 175 

. 20 I 

period to the rotation which is usually -'- — =-. An annual 

120 6 

sustained yield is not required, but, under regular conditions, the 

periodic yield must be sustained even for the individual blocks; 

under irregular conditions more than the normal area can be 

cut if there is an excess growing stock, and vice versa. With 

species requiring a long period of reproduction (e.g., natural 

reproduction by shelterwood-selection method often requires 

forty years) the areas are allotted in detail for the I and II 

periods, but not the volumes. 

The cutting is virtually restricted to the stands indicated 
for the I period. The manifest impossibility of selecting such 
stands twenty years in advance and then barring all the others 
has led to a universal demand for the " Opening of the II 
Period." This is met by providing for an intermediate revision 
in the eleventh year which may lead to the preparation of a 
new cutting plan. 

The choice of stands for the I period, i.e., the stands to be 
cut during the next twenty years, is prescribed as follows: 
Mature stands and defective stands are chosen first. Without 
undue sacrifices the object to attain is the equalization of the 
age-class distribution by smoothing out the age differences 
between subcompartments (unless they are extreme), but not 
having too large adjacent areas of the same age class, because 
of the increased danger from fire, insects, windbreak, etc., in 
coniferous stands especially. Cutting series are, therefore, 
advised and so many points of attack that each cutting area 
will have become stocked with young, thrifty growth before 
the adjacent area is cut. This usually means a wait of twenty 
years. 

The rotation for the chief species is determined for all Prus- 
sia, hence only departures therefrom need detailed explanation 
and justification. 

The yield or allowed cut for the twenty-year period is the 
growing stock on the cutting areas of the I period plus the 
increment thereon during ten years (half the period). This 



176 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

growing stock is estimated by calipering, either all the trees, or 
certain representative stands, if conditions are sufficiently 
uniform. The volumes are then calculated from basal area, 
average height and form factor. The volume of stands of the 
younger age classes is, if sufficiently regular, taken directly 
from yield tables, or by means of sample areas.* The incre- 
ment per cent is usually taken directly from the yield tables. 

The allowed annual cut is then found by dividing the volume 
of the entire I period by twenty. 

A separate cutting plan for thinnings is drawn up. The cut 
in thinnings is approximated from past experience. This in 
eludes the accidental yield through drought and windfall. 

The regulation of selection forests is purposely simplified, 
since these uneven-aged stands are primarily intended for protec- 
tion. The division into subcompartments is usually waived; 
the age classes are only approximated, and the calipering of 
every single stem is not necessary. The allowed cut for the 
I period is estimated for each working unit according to the 
ripeness for cutting. Where the selection forest is a distinct 
unit of sufficient size (e.g., a block) the average annual incre- 
ment of the whole is determined and taken directly as the 
allowed annual cut in so far as there is not a marked excess or 
deficiency in the growing stock or the condition of the forest 
or other cogent reasons demand a heavier cutting or vice versa. 
Where the selection forest has been under regulated manage- 
ment for some time past, experience will dictate the approxi- 
mately correct annual cut. 

* The preparation of the working plan is one of the regular duties of the forest 
supervisor; where necessary, he is aided in the field-work by younger members 
of the Service (forest assessors, etc.); the rangers do the calipering, etc. It is 
preceded by a working-plan conference between the district officer and the super- 
visor. This conference discusses ways and means, is digested and incorporated 
in the working-plan document (called the " Abschatzungswerk," a bound volume 
of some 125 pages, manuscript or typewritten, with ample margins for additional 
notes.) The working plan must be submitted through regular channels, to the 
Minister of Agriculture, whose letter putting the working plan into effect is incor- 
porated in the bound volume. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 177 

Control and revision of the working plan are provided for 
by means of the control book, the chief note-book (Hauptmerk- 
buch), and the area register. 

The control book serves the double purpose of checking the 
estimate and the allowed annual cut. For the allowed cut 
must be adjusted according as the estimates are shown to be 
too high or too low. If too high, there will be a deficit at the 
end of the period; if too low, there will be a surplus. The 
allowed annual cut is not strictly maintained; silvicultural or 
market conditions may necessitate a higher or lower cut.* 
Of course this must be offset by reducing or increasing the 
cut in the years following. 

Each cutting is entered in the control book, Part A, where 
for each Jagen, or District (compartment), there is a page 
whereon to show the time and kind of cutting, the species, and 
the amount obtained by classes of material. 

When the cutting of a stand is finished the result is com- 
pared with the estimate and the difference entered in control 
book, Part Ai, which is arranged as follows: 

Column i. Block. 

2. Compartment. 

3. Subcompartment. 

4. Year in which cutting is completed. 

5. Estimate in cubic metres by species. 

6. Actual cut in cubic metres by species — from con- 

trol book, Part A. 

7. Plus difference in cubic metres between columns 

5 and 6. 

8. Minus difference in cubic metres between columns 

5 and 6. 
At the end of each year f a balance is struck, and the result 
of this comparison between the estimate and the actual cut is 

* An Oberforster (supervisor) may not exceed the allowed annual cut by 
more than 5 per cent without the consent of the district office; over 10 per cent 
requires the consent of the central office in Berlin. 

t Formerly every three years. 



178 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



applied to the allowed cut as entered in control book, Part C,* 
which is arranged as follows: 



Year 




Cut by Species, in Cubic Metres 




Allowed 














Actual 














Balance ± 













This balance, be it a plus or a minus sum, is carried forward 
and used as the basis of the cutting plan for the year following, 
taking into account the plus or minus divergence of the esti- 
mate. At the same time Part C serves as a current record of 
the annual cuts. It is customary to add brief marginal explana- 
tions of the cuts larger or smaller than the calculated amount. 

The chief note-book (Hauptmerkbuch) is a running history 
of the forest showing the occurrences, management, measures 
taken, observations made, etc., to form the basis for a new 
organization of the forest f and as a guide to new administra- 
tive officers just taking charge of the forest. It is divided in 
two parts — the first, a general part, divided into various headings 
for the recording of events connected with the history of the 
forest, observations, and also recommendations, under the 
following headings: 



* Part B has long since been abandoned. 

t This is sometimes supplemented by a " Taxatorische Notizbuch," i.e., a 
note-book, containing data especially concerning the field-work and operation 
of the working plans. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



179 



i. Surveying and estimating. 

2. Methods and results of cuttings and plantings. 

3. Forest protection. 

4. Status and servitudes. 

5. Miscellaneous: markets, utilization, by-products, the 
chase, money returns, personnel, etc. 

The second part of the chief note-book is specific, and con- 
tains a page for each compartment whereon to record the events 
and changes affecting it. It is in tabluar form, as follows: 

Column 1 Compartment. 



2 

3'1 
4. 


Area. 
> Cuttings. - 


Year. 
Area. 


5 




Year. 


6 

7 
8 

9 
10 


■ Plantings. ■ 


Method of planting or seeding. 

Species. 

_,, • 1 j f Amount of seed 
Plant material used. \ ,, . , 

[ Num. of plants 

Area restocked. 


" J 

12 


Remarks. 


Cost aside from cost of plant material 



As a supplement to this, all changes in boundaries, soil 
utilization, in the character of the stands through cutting or 
planting, new constructions such as roads, etc., are entered on 
a map of the forest. 

The register of area consists of four parts: 

(A) The index to all extant maps, estimates, and working 
plans for the forest. 

(B) A record of all changes in area. 

(C) A record of all changes in ownership, servitudes, etc. 

(D) A record of the changes in the area devoted to the 
growth of timber. 

Since the year 1852 there have been detailed instructions 
for the revision of working plans. Until recently this included 
not only the regulation of the cut, but also the actual admin- 



180 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

istration of the forest. With the advent of frequent statistical 
reports and inspection trips, this last fell into abeyance. Reg- 
ular revisions come at the close of the twenty-year period, 
however, as explained above, an intermediate revision is provided 
for during the eleventh year of the period. 

The work of revision is similar to that of a new working 
plan; the degree of revision necessary depends on the changes 
which have occurred. Preparatory to the revision, each portion 
of the forest is carefully gone over to determine its present con- 
dition as compared with the condition at the time the estimate 
was made, in order to form an adequate basis for judging the 
effectiveness of the measures of the working plan, their further 
usefulness, and extent to which they require revision. The 
results of this examination are presented in brief — oftentimes 
tabular — form, especially as concerns cuttings, plantings, finan- 
cial results, changes in area, servitudes, and the like. 

Revisions are made by the Oberforster (supervisor) him- 
self, aided, where necessary, by men especially detailed, as 
in the case of the original estimates. All revisions are based 
on a conference between the officials concerned, following the 
precedent of the working-plan conference; this conference 
decides upon the further usefulness of the working plan as it 
stands, just what revisions are to be undertaken, and along what 
lines. 

The following are given as the chief considerations in the 
revision of a working plan: 

(i) The correction of the surveys and estimates. The area 
register and the second part of the chief note-book together 
with the forest maps posted to date are aids in this. 

(2) Review of the accomplished cutting and reproduction. 
The bases of this are the control-book and the chief note-book. 
As an index to the results of management, the cut is totaled for 
the period; in addition there is compiled from Part Ai of the 
control-book a comparison of the estimated cut with the actual 
cut; the areas planted or sown during the period are also sum- 
marized. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 181 

(3) Review of the silvicultural method of treatment, the 
rotation, division of area, etc. 

(4) Review of the regulation of the cut both in determina- 
tion and distribution. This may involve a partial or even 
complete revision of the estimates. 

(5) The drawing up of new general cutting and planting 
plans according to the revised regulation. 

(6) The correction or even redrafting of the forest map. 

II. Bavaria 

Bavaria is the second largest of the German States. Of its 
18,739,890 acres, 32.51 per cent (6,072,386 acres) are in forest. 

Bavaria presents widely varying topographic and forest 
conditions, from the rugged spruce and fir-clad northern ranges 
of the Alps along the southern boundary, through the varied 
spruce, fir, and Scotch pine stands mixed more or less with hard- 
woods, of the central and northern portions, to the extensive 
stands of pure spruce on the east — the famous " Bohemian 
woods," low ranges not exceeding 5000 feet elevation, which 
form the boundary with Austria — and the magnificent oaks of 
the Spessart in the north-west corner. 

The market for timber in Bavaria is very variable. In the 
more remote localities, such as the Alps on the south or the 
" Bohemian woods " on the east, utilization is necessarily still 
incomplete. In the northern and central portions of the king- 
dom intensive agriculture has brought with it the profitable 
possibility of complete utilization. 

Systematic forest organization in Bavaria dates from 1830, 
when the combined period method (see method No. 17) was 
adopted by a governmental order.* The period was taken as 
twenty-four years instead of the customary twenty years. The 
cut was regulated for three periods — seventy-two years — in 
advance. 

The end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth 

* " Instruktion fiir Forstwirtschaftseinrichtung," June 30, 1830. 



182 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

century witnessed a revolution in the forest policy of Bavaria, 
away from the often excessive conservatism of the early days, 
toward a more liberal interpretation of the State's economic 
duty, especially in regard to the increasing tendency to manage 
the State forests for profit as well as for a future timber supply. 
This change in general policy has manifested itself in the 
new instructions for forest organization.* These working- 
plan instructions because of their absolute modernity deserve 
somewhat detailed mention. 

The objects of forest organization are given as: 
(i) To give a clear conception of existing conditions in the 
forest. 

(2) To deduce from these conditions and the purposes which 
the forest is to serve the object and methods of management 
and the determination of the cut. 

(3) To regulate the cut in detail for the ensuing working 
period. 

(4) To control the execution of the plan and to secure 
statistical data thereon. 

The working unit usually coincides with the administrative 
unit (forest), but this is not essential; if conditions on two or 
more adjacent forests are sufficiently similar one working plan 
may suffice. 

The working unit (" Betriebsverband ") is divided into 
districts, and these into compartments. This division is pri- 
marily for the purpose of orderly arrangement and easier 
orientation. 

The basis of division into districts (blocks) is usually topo- 
graphic; sometimes, however, matters of status and of servi- 
tudes cause the segregation of a district. 

The basis of division into compartments is chiefly silvi- 
cultural, i.e., differences in elevation, exposure, opening of log- 
ging means, formation of a mantle against windfall, etc. The 

* " Anweisung fur die Forsteinrichtung in den Koniglich Bayrischen Staats 
waldungen," Munich, 1910, Verlagsbuchhandlung Oskar Beck. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 183 

actual boundaries are usually topographic — ravines, ridges, 
etc. — with artificial boundaries — roads, trails, cut-out lanes, 
etc. — as needed. For mere division of area a width of 3 metres 
(9.84 feet) * suffices; where protection from fire or wind also 
comes into play (formation or wind-mantles), the width must 
be increased accordingly. 

The determination of existing conditions (the first task of 
forest organization) begins with the division of each compart- 
ment into forest and non-forest soil; the latter includes not 
only those areas unsuited for forest, but also those suited for 
forest but used otherwise. Where accurate measurements are 
impossible, as in the Alpine zone, estimates of the relative 
area suffice. 

Of the forest areas, those are to be distinguished whose 
yield is naturally very slight (Alpine type) or, for reasons of 
protection, cost of logging, etc., do not permit of complete, 
regular utilization. 

The compartment is divided into subcompartments. The 
basis of this division is the individual stand. On the stand as 
the ultimate unit is built up the entire management.! 

The stand, or subcompartment, must be a unit as regards 
site, soil quality, species, age, and character (growth, density, 
health, etc.). A stand must differ in at least one of these 
features in order to be made into a subcompartment. However, 
all minor differences are to be disregarded. The minimum 
size of a subcompartment is usually 1 hectare (2.47 acres). 

In coppice and in selection forest the segregation of stands 
(subcompartments) is often impossible, and the compartments 
must suffice. 

Wherever possible the subcompartment boundaries are to 

* In Saxony the main compartment lines running north and south (Wirt- 
schaftsstreifen) average 9 metres (29.52 feet); the secondary compartment lines 
running east and west (Schneisen) average 4^ metres (14.76 feet). 

t " Die ausgeschiedenen Bestande — die Unterabteilungen — sind die Wirt- 
schaftseinheiten. Sie bilden die Grundlage fur die Ordnung der Wirtschaft und 
fur die Nutzung des Waldes, sowie fur die Buchung der Ertrage und des 
Auf wands." 



184 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

be topographic features or roads, trails, etc. Where these do 
not suffice, lines are cleared to a width of 1-2 metres (3.28 to 
6.56 feet) and rings of white paint put on the border trees. 

In uneven-aged stands the average age as well as the age 
limits is to be given. Throughout the greatest attention is 
given to the presentation of the age classes in their relation to 
area by 1, species, singly and in mixture; 2, site qualities; and 
3, density of stocking. These are shown graphically by means of 
diagrams. The reason of this attention to the age-class distri- 
bution is that in even-aged high forest it is made, in conjunction 
with data on the thriftiness of stands and their suitability to the 
chosen site, the basis of regulating the cut and of judging the 
progress towards a normal forest. In coppice with preponder- 
ating standards (" Oberholzreicher Mittelwald ") and in selec- 
tion forest a presentation of the age classes is seldom practi- 
cable ; the most that could be done would be a summary of the 
area occupied by each age class within the same (uneven-aged) 
stand, and this gives no adequate basis for judgment. 

Detailed estimates are confined usually to those stands 
intended for cutting during the ensuing working period of ten 
years. Ocular estimates suffice if conditions are regular and 
there are available data on cuttings of, or yield tables for, 
similar stands. In all other cases caliper measurements either 
of sample plots or of every tree, as the irregularlity of the stand 
may necessitate, are required. 

The increment is to be determined for the next twenty years, 
because it is a fundamental principle that, at the end of twenty 
years at the latest, the working plan is to be completely revised, 
growing stock, increment, and allowed cut redetermined. How- 
ever, only half the increment for the twenty years is to be added 
to the present volume of the stands to be cut, since at the end 
of the first decade half of the stands so designated will have 
been cut and be without further increment. 

The increment is taken either from suitable normal yield 
tables or as the current annual. The former is simple; the 
latter, in irregular and overmature stands, more reliable. The 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 185 

mean annual increment can be used if, by investigation, it has 
been determined what relation with increasing age and on 
different site qualities the current annual increment bears to 
the mean annual. 

A peculiarity of Bavarian forest organization is the " Char- 
acter Index " (" Charakterzahl ") of the stand: — or the 

a 

number of stems per hectare divided by the average diameter. 
This index figure is determined separately for each stand. 

In the description of existing conditions, special attention 
is paid to the methods of getting out the timber and sugges- 
tions for the development of roads, and other logging methods. 
Forests only partially accessible demand a plan of logging 
which includes portions now inaccessible as well as those already 
opened to management. This plan is usually indicated on a 
contour map. 

The real and the normal growing stock are determined (the 
latter from yield tables), since they show whether there is an 
excess or a deficit. The relation of normal increment to normal 
growing stock gives the normal yield by which the actual yield 
can be judged (see Hundeshagen's formula, method No. 7). 

On this basis of conditions as they exist, the general rules 
of management are then formulated according to the objects 
which the forest is to serve. A decision must therefore be 
reached as to species, form of stands desired, silvicultural 
methods, and the rotation to be adopted. Finally the cutting 
area for the next working period must be fixed. 

A working unit may be divided into groups (" Betriebs- 
klassen ") that is, portions of one or more administrative units 
varying sufficiently from conditions on the rest of the area to 
warrant a separate age-class table and calculation of the cut. 
These variations can be in silvicultural method; in different 
age of maturity in the species (i.e., different rotations); in 
marked difference of increment, especially in widely varying 
elevations; and in important servitudes which influence the 
course of management. 



186 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

It is to be remembered, however, that too many divisions 
of the working unit make the plan unwieldy and difficult of 
execution, hence only considerable differences are to be taken 
into account. 

The instructions for determining the rotation age are a 
declaration of principles for the new Bavarian forest policy. 
The rotation age is to be governed by the objects of manage- 
ment: " Without violating the sustained yield and with the 
regard to rights of user, to secure the highest possible produc- 
tion of those classes of timber best suited to the needs of the 
community and of the country as a whole. In addition, the 
administration is bound to manage the state property entrusted 
to it in an economic manner, and from the management to 
secure the highest possible money revenue. 

" According, therefore, as a forest is not exclusively or pre- 
ponderating^ intended to satisfy servitudes or to be a protection 
or a recreation forest, the management must aim at the largest 
possible production of most demanded timber and at the 
economic securing of a maximum money revenue." 

The rotation age must be determined from this standpoint. 
This determination is not to be confined to the other stands, 
but must extend to the younger classes whose origin and growth 
are often different from that of the older timbers; * for in fixing 
the rotation age, the period of years required for these younger 
stands to reach maturity is the most important. 

The possible rotation period is bounded on the lower side 
by the merchantability of the sizes secured, on the upper side 
by the age at which the forest rent ceases to increase. The 
time of maximum forest rent is therefore the extreme rotation 
age. As a rule the rotation is to be fixed at that age which 

* This difference is well illustrated by the Western yellow pine. Measure- 
ments made by the author near Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1907, show that the mature 
yellow pine, when in the " blackjack " form, grew much slower than the present 
" blackjack " of the same size; e.g., at 100 years of age the present " yellow pine " 
were 13.2 inches diameter breast high; the present "blackjack" 17.95 inches 
diameter breast high. See Forest Service Bulletin 101, " Western Yellow Pine 
in Arizona and New Mexico," tables 9 and 10. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 187 

produces the maximum amount of timber of medium size, 
provided the site quality permits. On poorer sites the growth 
is slower, and there the management must be satisfied with the 
production of smaller sized timber if the rotation is not to be 
unduly prolonged. 

Some sacrifices, however, of mere income to the production 
of larger timbers is proper, since it is the duty of the state to 
provide for these. But where this can be secured only at the 
sacrifice of a satisfactory income per cent the prolongation of 
the rotation is unwarranted. 

Besides the mathematical calculations of timber and money 
yield certain other factors come into play, i.e., the influence 
of the rotation age on the condition of the soil and on the capacity 
of the stand for natural reproduction, the increased danger of 
windfall, the decreased vigor with increasing years, the possi- 
bility of intensive thinnings, and other partly economic, partly 
silvicultural, partly administrative considerations. 

Where there are several species with considerable variance 
in their rotation age, but the working unit is not subdivided 
into working groups, the rotation age is taken as the average of 
the respective areas and rotations. 

In selection forest a rotation age is difficult of determination 
because of the widely varying conditions of growth. Diameter 
is a better guide, i.e., the diameter of greatest productivity 
determined by measurements of sample trees. Trees which 
have reached the diameter so determined are merchantable. 

For every working unit the area must be determined which 
is to be cut over in the ensuing twenty-year working period. 
The fundamental* consideration is to gauge the cutting areas 
so that overmature stands and cutting of immature stands are 
both avoided, but at the same time so that undue vacillations 
of area cut over do not occur with their bad effect on local 
market for and needs of timber, employment for men in the 
woods, and also delayed normality in the distribution of the age 
classes. 

If the cutting areas are gauged properly and if, in addition, 



188 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

by means of prompt reproduction, care of soil and growth, the 
increment in volume and in value is furthered, then the demands 
of a sustained yield are fully met. 

In the normal forest the periodic cutting area is constantly 

I dt *-? t\ rpn 

equal to — — - '—. X 20. Where the age-class distribution is 

Rotation 

abnormal this figure can serve only as a means of comparison. 

In such a case the periodic cutting area is the sum of the stands 

requiring cutting for silvicultural reasons (" hiebsbediirftig "), 

stands now mature (" hiebsreif ") or becoming mature in the 

next twenty years. 

Where the distribution of the age classes shows a marked 
departure from the normal, the progress of the cuttings must 
be gauged for several decades in advance, so as to foretell the 
progress which the cutting of the present working period will 
make toward a normal distribution of the age classes. This 
is to be done schematically according to the following form: 

Premise. — Rotation = 100 years. Area = 982.2 acres. 

Normal periodic cutting area=- — — X 20 = 196.4 

100 

acres; for silvicultural reasons (overmaturity and poor growth) 
this has to be increased to 258 acres. This overcutting is 
then equalized in ensuing periods. (See p. 189.) 

The distribution of cutting areas for the ensuing working 
period is not confined to assigning half the periodic area to the 
ten years elapsing before the intermediate revision. The admin- 
istrative officer in charge of the forest requires leeway in the 
choice of where to cut; for he must vary his points of attack, 
use to the full each seed year, secure a mixture of species by 
advance reproduction of certain ones (e.g., of fir in spruce-fir 
type; of beech in pine-beech type), take thought of the fluctua- 
tions in the demand for timber, aim to secure each year an 
approximately equal revenue, etc. This is possible only if 
the field of operations is larger than the mere ten-year cutting 
area. This is secured by allowing the administrative officer 
in charge of the forest to pick from the periodic (twenty-year) 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



189 



Average 

Cutting 

Age 










1/5 O "0 

IO fl N 

O rt- on 




NO Oj 
■* NO 

m w 
£ + 


NO O 

On 1-1 

II + 


t/5 

NO 

O 
W 






Less the 
Period. 
Area of 

162 Acres 










oi d co 

CO ON CM 


q 

0) 

NO 
w 


Area 

in 

1971 

acres 










w't-q cn io9 9 9999 

ON On O* 00 "On Os O h m 
CO On co •<*■ NO oi 0) Oi oi 00 00 

On M m HH HH 


CNJ 

CN 

00 
ON 


8» 

rt.S v 
U -u bo 

> 3^ 












lO >0 

r-. r-~ 

r-» co 
r-» co 

0< CM 




UO 01 CO O 

h « On i-i 

5 + 11 + 


«5 

co 

O 


Less the 
Period. 
Area of 

162 Acres 












10 10 

CO Ol 


q 

OI 

NO 


Area 

in 

1951 

acres 












iomd ■<*■ 9 r ] "? 9 9 9 9 

-4 no On OnOO no On On O 6 
CO NO On CO'* On 01 01 0) 0) 


0) 

oi 

00 

ON 


60 c 
ed-5 m 
t- -4J bo 

> 3*^ 






O C 

IO OC 
0) O 

O) If 


\ 
5 


IO UO 

MO "0 

t*~ t~~ 1-1 

■=j- NO 00 




w O r^ 
00 -3- 00 w 
r~~ oi 

8 + 11 + 


tn 

On 




Less the 
Period. 
Area of 

240 Acres 




00 0} 


IT} CO 0) 

ION -4- 

1-1 CO NO 




6 

CNl 


Area 

in 
193 1 

acres 




00 0} 
t^. 10 


10 co r~» v 9'* q « 10 q 

IC N 06 NO O* On 00 NO On ON 
m to On NO On cO-3-OnCnicn 

W W W W 


(Nj 
01 

00 
ON 


bo c 
1- -u bo 
> 3^< 


iOO<OioOOOOiO 

^" • HI 

i-iiOV°°OMi-iOOrO "0 
vO A (i0^i')iOO' O 
A tO H NlONN^* r-«. 
Onw^i-i^-nOOIIOco m 


O 

CO 00 -+• O 

01 lO O w 

9l N M 

"8 + 11 + 


en 


Less the 
Period. 
Area of 

258 acres. 


O m <tOO N * m 99 

ON On *+ 06 NO NO i-* fO 06 
CO >0 01 uo Tf M «0 


Area 
in 

acres 


p wTfooo^Oi- lo n n * 1" n io 

ON ON ^ 06 "4 " >-' 00 r-^.06 VO CT\ <> 00 \o 

(O 10 i-'O "t CO co On NO On co *3- On 


0} 

oj 

00 

ON 


v % 2 


O 
i/ - 

T 


O 

1 
C 



- t* 

3 P 


O 
3 f 

1 

HI 


O 

1 

C 


O O 
O ON 

w ' 

ON 00 


O 

00 

1 

r>. 



r^ no 

1 1 
no 10 




OOOOO 
IO * f) N m 

1 1 1 1 1 





190 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

cutting area those areas for the cutting in the ensuing decade 
which he deems most expedient for reasons of silviculture, 
cutting sequence (cutting series), administration, and maturity. 

If the sum of the stands so chosen greatly exceeds the 
allowed ten-year cutting area, those stands are to be excluded 
and saved for a future decade whose growth is the most thrifty 
and valuable. 

By dividing the entire periodic cutting area into the mer- 
chantable volume thereon, the cut per acre is obtained. This 
multiplied by the annual cutting area gives the allowed annual 
cut in volume. 

In coppice with preponderating standards and in selection 
forest regulation by area is not desirable, since it does not do 
justice to the complicated and varying needs of the tree in such 
uneven-aged stands.* In such stands the cut for the ensuing 
working period consists of all trees above a fixed diameter 
(determined as stated above), in addition the volume of those 
trees which during the next ten years will reach this diameter 
and such as have to be removed for silvicultural reasons (" wolf- 
trees," " snobs," etc.). In the case of coppice with standards 
there is, also, of course, the volume of the coppice. A tenth of 
the total amount for the next decade is the allowed annual 
cut, this is checked by the current annual increment per cent — 
the sum of the current annual increment per cents of each diam- 
eter class, and by the result of past cuttings. Order and prog- 
ress of the cuttings are insured by the observance of a cutting 
cycle. 

The provisions for renewal of the working plan are as fol- 
lows: Each plan is drawn up for a period of twenty years, but 
at the end of the first decade an intermediate revision — or 
review — is had; at the end of the twenty years a complete 
revision is had resulting in a new plan. Exceptional circum- 
stances may necessitate a complete revision before that time, 
as when unforeseen changes have occurred in the very founda- 

* Where the undergrowth is too dense to permit calipering, it may be neces- 
sary to regulate the cut, even of coppice with standards, by area. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 191 

tions of the plan. Often, however, it suffices in such cases to 
make provisional changes for the remainder of the working 
period. Natural calamities — wind, fire, etc. — always require 
some time before the measure of the catastrophe can be prop- 
erly judged. 

The intermediate revisions are to cover the following points: 

a. Necessary corrections of the methods of determining the 
cut (checking of estimates, etc.). 

b. Determination of the cutting areas for the past decade, 
comparison with the allowed area, and determination of the 
area for the ensuing decade which again is really that for a 
period of twenty years. 

c. Emendation of the plan of management. 

d. Determination of the volume yield of the next working 
period (based on a, b, and c). 

e. The making of a new map of the forest. 

In the main revisions the task is a similar one, but more 
exhaustive. The results of the management during the past 
period — twenty years — are to be compiled and the whole 
structure of the working plan renewed as may be necessary. 

Bavaria, in common with many of the German States,* has 
a separate section of working plans in the central office at 
Munich. This section is charged with the field-work and the 
office preparation of the plans. The supervisor of the forest 
concerned is consulted in every feature of the plan; he and his 
subordinates are charged to assist in the preparation thereof. . 

The bases of the plan as well as the completed plan require 
the approval of the royal ministry of finance, forest section. 

The procedure in working plans is as follows: 

During the working period the supervisor is supposed to 
keep careful record of such results of management as aid in 
judging of the volume and value yield. The underlying field 
data can often be supplemented by him during slack periods of 
the year. 

* E.g., Saxony, Baden and Wurttemberg; Prussia is a notable exception. 



192 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

In the last year of the twenty-year working period the super- 
visor has to report about the execution of the working plan, the 
experiences gained thereby, and about the essential results of 
the management, the changes in the condition of the forest, to 
express himself about the fundamentals of the working plan 
and to base suggested changes on detailed data. 

The district inspection officer has to express himself as to 
this report and these recommendations of the supervisor. The 
working-plans officer assigned for the task has then, in company 
with the district officer and the officers of the forest, to go over 
the forest in detail. On the basis of this trip over the forest, 
and after due consideration of the proposals made by the dis- 
trict officer and the supervisor,* the working-plans officer draws 
up the fundamentals of the new working plan, and the scheme 
of field-work. Often, of course, some of these fundamentals 
must await, at least in part, certain investigations in the field; 
for such points a supplement is to be prepared. 

The fundamentals as agreed upon at the working-plan con- 
ference and any supplement thereto, must be approved by the 
state ministry of finance. 

In the last year of each decade, also, the supervisor must 
anticipate the intermediate revision or review by a report on 
the correctness and applicability of the methods of regulation 
and of the rules of management. 

A working-plan conference and consequent drawing up of 
the fundamentals of the proposed plan are not necessary in the 
intermediate revisions. 

The field-work is done by assistants of the working-plans 
officer in so far as the forest force cannot be used therefor. 
The party may be divided into sections, each under the direc- 
tion of a section chief versed in working-plans procedure. 
These section chiefs and their workmen are instructed (if neces- 
sary in writing) by the working-plans officer acting in conjunc- 
tion with the administrative officers of the forest. 

* If their advice is refused the reason for such refusal must be stated by the 
working-plans officer. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 193 

The supervisor has to keep in touch with the progress of 
the work and the manner of execution. The section chief, on 
demand, must report thereon to the supervisor. 

The working up of the field data and the preparation of the 
working-plan document is the task of the section of working 
plans in the central office at Munich. As soon as the essentials 
of the plan are ready in rough draft, they are to be submitted 
to the supervisor of the forest for his review and written rec- 
ommendations and memoranda. These last are to be incor- 
porated in the working-plan document. Then the draft of 
the plan is submitted to the officers of the district and cen- 
tral offices, who must also record any divergent opinions in 
writing. 

Finally, all new working plans or main revisions have to be 
laid before the ministry of finance for its approval, which puts 
the plan in force. In intermediate revisions it suffices to notify 
the ministry of departures necessitated from the original plan, 
before submitting the revised plan to the supervisor for execu- 
tion. 

A map of the forest forms an indispensable part of every 
working plan. 

No special document is necessary for the intermediate revi- 
sions; the existing plan is merely amended in the text, if neces- 
sary by the insertion of extra pages. 

A part of every revision is a resume of the management dur- 
ing the working period just concluded. 

III. Saxony 

Although small in size — 3,703,271 acres — Saxony is, because 
of its dense population and great industrial development, the 
state of third importance in Germany. Despite its dense pop- 
ulation, 949,813 acres, or 25.65 per cent of the total area, is 
forested. 

Saxony is a compact unit, roughly triangular in shape, the 
low mountains of the Erz Gebirge forming the base and the 
city of Leipzig the apex. The stands in Saxony are, overwhelm- 



194 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

ingly, pure spruce with Scotch pine stands in the nortncrn, 
plains portion. 

The Saxon markets arc pluperfect, which explains the suc- 
cess of the Saxon spruce management with such a low rotation 
and resulting small diameter.* 

I nest organization in Saxony is under the control of a cen- 
tral bureau of forest organization (Forsteinrichtungsanstalt) in 
Dresden. This has worked well, since it has secured uniformity 
of methods and results and an experienced, well-drilled per- 
sonnel. It also established for forest organization a definite 
and correct interrelation with the other branches of forestry — 
administration, experimentation, etc. 

As in most of the German states, the regulation of cut 
was first by the period method. Ileinrich Cot.ta, who system- 
atized the working plans for the Saxon state forests in the years 
1811 to 1831, endorsed both the area period and the combined 
period methods. Frequent, regular revisions soon obviated 
the necessity of determining the cut for several periods of twenty 
years each in advance. The period method was therefore aban- 
doned and the determination of cut confined to the next decade 
by means of the stand method (" Hcstandswirtschaft ") (method 
No. 16). f 

The division of area is as far as possible rectilinear, the 
boundaries being used as roads. Because of the imminent 
danger of windfall in spruce, the lines are run parallel with and 
;il right angles to the prevailing wind direction. 

Stands (subcomparlments) are segregated down to a mini- 
mum area of half an a< re. The prevalent uniformity of con- 
ditions permits of tabulated forest descriptions. Site quality is 
gauged both according to the intrinsic quality of the soil (Stand 
ortsbonitat) and according to the quality of the stand growing 
thereon ( Hestandsbonitat). The two by no means always coin 



* See "Management <>f Spruce in Saxony," Forestry Quarterly, Volume XI, 
No. 2, pp. 14,5-148. 

t For outline of Saxon working plan Bee page 154. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 195 

cide; for the stand growing on a certain site is not necessarily 
the one best suited to it. 

The age classes are in twenty-year gradations — each age 
class is again divided in half so that the age-class distribution is 
recorded by decades. 

Owing to the great regularity of the stands, calipering is not 
ordinarily necessary. Stands less than half of the usual rota- 
tion of eighty years are estimated from yield tables; stands 
over forty years old are estimated ocularly and reestimated at 
each ten-year revision. 

Where clear cutting preponderates, the normal annual cut 
is taken roughly as the total area divided by the rotation. The 
proper rotation age is determined by applying the index per 
cent (Weiserprozent) to the individual stand.* Tables of value 
increment have been prepared for the whole kingdom of Saxony, 
based on the prices secured in the open market for the various 
classes of timber. 

Saxon forestry foots on the soil-rent basis. In order to show 
the profits of management on this basis, the net income for the 
whole forest is compared with the total cost of production. 
This is done, for purposes of forest organization, by determining 
the timber and soil capital which the forest represents and 
then showing in tabular form the rate of interest returned 
thereon for each year by the forest management (Reinertrags- 
iibersicht). 

The normal annual cutting area is maintained as nearly as 
may be. Under irregular conditions, departures therefrom are 
necessary. The table of age-class distribution serves as an 
index to the degree of departure necessary. If the higher age 
classes are in excess, the annual cutting area is increased; con- 

* The index per cent, W, is determined by the formula W = (a-\-b±c)- 



A+S 

where a = volume increment, b = quality increment, c = value increment or depre- 
ciation, 4= the arithmetical mean of present and future yield, and 5 = the soil 
capital with interest thereon. (For details see Roth: " Forest Valuation," pp. 
76 to 78.) 



196 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

versely it is diminished. Hence, a careful exposition of the 
age-class distribution is of vital importance. 

The Saxon system, of maximum money returns on the invest- 
ment, demands that those stands whose index per cent is lowest 
be cut first. The next most important consideration is the cut- 
ting series; for with the preponderance of spruce, the danger 
from windfall demands that the cutting areas progress toward 
the prevailing wind direction. Since the cutting strips are 
narrow and an interval elapses before the adjacent strip is cut, 
it follows, as a general rule, that the cutting series are short. 
However, in order to accomplish this and to avoid the joining 
together of large areas of practically equal age, it is necessary 
to have many points of attack. To secure these, the edge of a 
stand exposed by the removal of the sheltering stand to wind- 
ward, must betimes be accustomed to the exposure by the for- 
mation of deep crowns — the so-called forest mantle or wind 
mantle. 

The most important task of the forest organization, as re- 
gards arrangement of area, is the selection of these points of 
attack for the cutting series. The further development of the 
cutting series can, however, be only sketched, since it depends 
on circumstances which the organizer at the time of drawing up 
the plan cannot know. 

The volume of the cut for the working period of ten years 
is found by ocular determination of the stand on the area to be 
cut over. The cut to be expected from thinnings is gauged 
according to the results of the decade past, aided by yield 
tables, and, of course, with special regard to the needs of the 
stands. 

Stress is laid on the continuity of statistical records in re 
age-class distribution, volume of growing stock, yearly cuts in 
amount and classes of material, the gross income, the expenses, 
the net- income (Reinertrag), the forest capital, etc. These 
records have been kept in Saxony since 1817 and are invaluable 
aids for purposes cf forest organization. 

In addition to the revisions at the end of the ten-year work- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 197 

ing period, there are, in Saxony, intermediate revisions in the 
middle of the working period. The most important features of 
revision are the entry of cuttings and plantings on the map of 
the forest; the comparison of the actual cut with the estimate; 
the necessitated departures from the prescriptions of the work- 
ing plan. 

For purposes of forest organization the usual stand map 
(scale of i : 20,000 or 1 : 15,000) showing species, age classes, 
and cutting series, is used as a base whereon to show the intended 
cutting areas of the next decade, special planting areas, the 
cutting series, etc. 

IV. WiJRTTEMBERG 

Wurttemberg and Baden between them contain the Black 
Forest, that long line of low ranges flanking the Rhine on the 
east. Wurttemberg has an area of 4,819,958 acres, of which 
30.77 per cent or 1,483,025 acres are forested. 

Wurttemberg is traversed by various low ranges which 
give to the whole kingdom a rolling topography. The species 
corresponding thereto are preponderatingly spruce and fir. 

The splendid development of the timber market in Wurt- 
temberg and of the road system necessary to get the timber on 
the market puts Wurttemberg on a par with Saxony as regards 
financially profitable management. 

Wtirttemberg's systematic forest organization dates from 
the year 1878. The experience gained during the years follow- 
ing led to a sweeping revision in 1898. Since then there has 
been a second, tentative, revision of the working plans instruc- 
tions in 191 1.* The period method has been dropped, with the 
impractical endowment of areas in advance for each twenty- 
year period of the rotation. Attention has been centred on the 
segregation of stand units, i.e., subcompartments and the 
regulation of cut based thereon rather than on the area of arbi- 
trary divisions (compartments) . The condition of the individual 

* " Vorlaufige Anleitung zu den Vorarbeiten der Wirtschaftseinrichtung u.s.w. 
in Wurttemberg," 1911. 



198 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

stand has been made the criterion of regulation; the cut is no 
longer determined in advance for the whole rotation, but usually 
for only the first period of twenty years, exceptionally for the 
second period also. 

Normally, the cutting area of the I period =— : — X 20. 

Exceptions are necessitated under abnormal conditions such 
as an excess or deficit of merchantable timber, etc. With 
thrifty stands and a proper distribution of the age classes (in 
ten-year gradations) the sum of the merchantable stands will 
automatically aggregate the periodic cutting area. 

In the choice of stands for reproduction, great attention is 
paid to the formation of proper cutting series, just as in Saxony 
(see above).* 

The process of forest organization is summarized as follows: 
After rotation, silvicultural method, and species have been set- 
tled upon and the actual condition of each stand (subcompart- 
ment) accurately determined, the first period of twenty years 
is endowed with the proper area of subcompartments according 
to the principles outlined above. Then for the next decade the 
stands on half the period area are accurately estimated (cali- 
pered). Since there are always unlooked-for contingencies 
requiring cutting of areas aside from those provided for in the 
plan, an amount based on past experience is allowed for such 
emergencies. 

A separate area plan is drawn up for thinnings. 

Forest organization in Wtirttemberg is in a state of transi- 
tion from the period method to that by stands; it is not quite 
" off with the old " as yet nor " on with the new." 

V. Baden 

The Grand Duchy of Baden is the neighbor state of 
Wurttemberg. It has a total area of 3,725,007 acres, of which 
1,402,454 acres, or 37.65 per cent, are forested, the highest 



* " Oberster Grundsatz die Bildung gecigneter Hiebsziige." 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 199 

percentage of any of the German states, only excepting the petty 
principalities of Waldeck and of Reuss.* 

The Black Forest range traverses Baden from north to 
south like a backbone. The preponderating species are there- 
fore spruce and fir (whence the name " Black Forest ") except 
in the northern plains and along the Rhine, where there are stands 
of hardwoods (mostly coppice) and of Scotch pine. 

As in Wiirttemberg, a magnificent road system makes acces- 
sible every portion of the forests; a ready market exists for 
almost every class of products. 

In Baden, too, forest organization developed from the vol- 
ume period method (Massenfachwerk). But under the pre- 
vailing forest conditions of the Grand Duchy, which is charac- 
terized by splendid natural reproduction,! especially of fir, the 
method did not prove feasible; for the process of natural 
reproduction requires a much longer time than the twenty- 
year period (usually from thirty to fifty years). 

In 1846 a combined area and volume " framework " method 
was prescribed, first worked out for a whole rotation, then 
determining volumes only for the first decade. This met with 
difficulties on account of the selection forests, so that, in 1869, an 
adaptation of Heyer's formula (method No. 9) was prescribed. 

Since i860 thoroughgoing revisions of the working plan are 
undertaken every ten years. They are based on the results of 
the past decade; the actual cut, as compared with the esti- 
mates; the effect thereof on the condition of the forest, etc. 

The present working-plan procedure dates from 19 12, J its 
characteristic features are as follows: § 

* These have 38.18 and 37.74 per cent, respectively. The average for the 
whole German Empire is 25.88 per cent. 

f See " Natural Regeneration in the Black Forest," Forestry Quarterly, 
Volume XI, No. 3, pp. 33°S39- 

t " Dienstanweisung iiber Forsteinrichtung u.s.w. in Baden (Forsteinricht- 
ungsordnung) " 191 2. 

§ Adapted from "Die Neue Dienstanweisung fiir Forsteinrichtung," Allgemeine 
Forst- und Jagd-Zeitung, Dec, 191 2, pp. 420-425, briefed For. Quart., Vol. XI, 
No. 1, pp. 111-114. 



200 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

Before the working-plan data are secured, the forest is care- 
fully gone over by the officials who are concerned in the organi- 
zation of the forest. This also involves the critical scrutiny 
of the existing working plan in all its parts. This examination 
lays stress on the division of area, the descriptions of site and 
of stands, the estimates of growing stock and of increment, the 
results of the previous management, and the basic provisions 
of the proposed future management. 

The new prescription makes the stand (subcompartment) 
the unit of management; as far as according to species, age, 
and site it will probably remain permanently an area for inde- 
pendent treatment. 

The minimum size of such a stand is not prescribed. Site 
classes are determined by use of average height and age accord- 
ing to Eberhard's site-class tables. For determining stock 
the same tables are used reduced by 10 per cent. Only the vol- 
ume of the main stand is used, the intermediary stand, 5 to 10 
per cent of the total, is neglected, which opens up the possi- 
bility of great variety of opinion as to what to count to main 
and intermediary stand, and to likely underestimates. 

The increment, however, is to be ascertained on both final 
and intermediary yield; namely, a total average increment for 
the rotation under normal stock conditions, and a current 
increment for the first decade. Also the mean annual felling 
age increment for each working group is to be ascertained by 
use of the tables checked by sample areas. These latter are 
to be made permanent, so that the progress of increment can 
be studied. 

Age-class distribution according to area and volume, and 
comparison with normality is to be specially looked after, 
but the normal stock is to be figured from the yield tables, not 
as hitherto according to formula. 

The forest capital is to be ascertained for comparison with 
the annual net yield according to most modern valuation 
methods. Stands up to forty years of age are to be calculated 
at actual cost value, older stands at sale values; soil values as 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 201 

soil-rent values checked by actual sale values. The prescribed 
interest rate is 2.5 per cent. While — quite properly — the man- 
agement is not to be based upon a strict calculation, the prin- 
ciple is laid down, that the aim of the management is to be to 
secure the highest forest net income possible under sustained 
yield management besides at the same time attempting to 
secure an adequate interest rate on the capital involved in the 
management. 

Hence, stands are to be considered ripe when the periodic 
increment of the forest net yield begins to decline considerably, 
and to determine this rotation, forest net yields and average 
interest calculations are to be made, also soil expectancy values 
with interest rates of 1.5 to 3 per cent are to be calculated to 
exhibit the time of culmination. 

If then the rotation based on the forest rent and the financial 
rotation based on an " adequate " (if no special considerations, 
2.5 per cent) interest rate coincide, it is accepted. If not, then 
investigation is to be made to see by what changes in manage- 
ment coincidence can be secured. 

In this way, for the first time, at least a financial check is 
introduced. 

Where the determination of the rotation in this way leaves 
uncertainty, the index per cent, or with very valuable stands 
only the value increment per cent, is to be used for judging 
ripeness. 

Rules of management for districts of similar conditions of 
production are to be formulated to stop the continual experi- 
menting of each manager. 

For regulation of the cut the stand method (method No. 16) 
has been adopted. 

The securing of normal age-class distribution in area and 
volume is to be especially attempted. 

In very uneven-aged stands or with long periods of repro- 
duction, a comparison between actual and normal stock is to 
be used as a check with Heyer's formula (method No. 9), or 
else the volume rate per cent may be used as a check. 



202 THE THEORY, and PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(/; ' do, where < the actual annual cul and v *the actual 

v 

j^rowin^ stock.) 

In the selection foresl the current annual incremenl furnishes 

lh. prim ip.il index for llic ;ill< >\vc<l till, ;is well as other con 

siderations, like markel and labor conditions, etc. 

A large number of forms lor gathering the necessary data 
accompany this instruction; the control book is to furnish 
,i complete chronicle by stands. Besides the sample areas 
mentioned, so-called special typical "index stands" are to he 

used lo accumulate data of yield and finance, and these are to 
he spei ia II \ hooked. 

The map work is also to he improved by stand maps showing 
species, age class, site. 

The working plans are lo he made by a special hureau, as 
hilherlo, except I hat the head of the hureau is now made a mem 
her of I he < cut ral direct ion. 

Statistu "l Record lias, since [869, been in intimate conjunc 

lion with forest organization so as to have systematic data, on 

conditions and results, to simplify the working-plan documents 

and to he applied as precedents, good or had. 

The vital statistical records are: The history of the particu 
lar administrative unit (origin, composition, status, etc.); the 
description of the forest according t<> the subheads: forested 
area, topography, management, foresl utilization, logging 

methods, forest protection, the chase, money returns, etc. 

These data are compiled for the lust lime hy I he adminis 

trative officers of a forest, hut the continuation and supple 

men ting' thereof is done by the foresl organizer al revision oi the 

w 01 king plan. 

VI. Alsace Lorraine 

These provinces, conquered from the French in 1S70 71, 
contain the major part of the Vosges Mountains, a long line of 
low ranges flanking the Rhine on the west. Together they have 

an area <l 3,584,71] acres, of which [,086,385 acres, or 30.3] 
per cenl , ai e Ime led. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 203 

The topography is rolling, becoming mountainous in the 
southern portion of the Vosges. The species correspond closely 
to the topography: coppice hardwoods and Scotch pine in the 
more level portions; fir and beech and some spruce in the 
mountains, with oak on the foothills. 

The road development and the timber markets of these 
provinces are rapidly approaching the same degree of perfection 
as already exists in the neighboring state of Baden. 

When Germany gained control of these provinces in 187 1 it 
became necessary at once to have provisional working plans for 
each administrative unit. These were made by the adminis- 
trative officer in charge of the forest, passed upon by the inspect- 
ing (district) officer, and finally approved by the minister. 
The essentials of these provisional plans are the division of 
area, plan for roads and trails, determination of the method 
of silvicultural management, fixation of the rotation, etc. 

As soon as possible following thereupon, regular working 
plans were constructed, based on these provisional plans. 
Revised plans are also prescribed at the expiration of each 
twenty-year period, after substantial changes in area or growing 
stock, and in cases of transition as from high forest to coppice 
and vice versa. 

The regulations of 1910 lay stress on the following features 
of forest organization.* 

Division of Area. — The segregation of compartments is done 
in conjunction with the laying out of the logging and wagon 
roads and the trails. The area in coniferous stands is not to 
exceed 24.70 to 37.05 acres, in hardwood stands from 37.05 to 
49.40 acres. For coppice and coppice with standards the forest 
is divided into annual cutting areas; for there the regulation is 
by area alone. In communal forests one-quarter of the area 
is set aside as reserve, dating from the ordinances of Colbert 
in 1669, which provide that in forests owned by the church, 
or alienated in mortmain, or owned by communities or by 

* " Vorschriften fur die Aufstellung und Revision dor Forstbetriebseinricht- 

ungswerke," Strassburg, kjio. 



204 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

parishes, one-fourth of the area is to be reserved from cutting; 
the balance to be divided into regular cuts (" coupes regulees ")• 
There are no binding prescriptions for the division into 
subcompartments. In larger forests with various species the 
minimum size is to be 2.47 acres (one hectare). For segrega- 
tion on the basis of age differences or differences in density of 
stocking, a minimum of 4.94 areas suffices. Subcompartments 
are segregated only if the area requires distinctive treatment. 
Stands in process of reproduction are to be segregated down to 
a minimum size of 2.47 acres. 

The subcompartments are indicated on the ground by 
means of stakes and ditches at the corners and are entered in 
the maps. 

Maps. — Field surveys are usually confined to interior lines, 
since reliable geodetic maps are available for both provinces. 
The forest map is usually on a scale of 1 : 25,000 and shows 
the species by different colors. The cutting areas are indicated 
on the map for the I and II period — i.e., for the next forty 
years — by means of cross hatching, unbroken lines for the I 
period, broken lines and dots for the II period. 

Forest Description is to be short and confined to the char- 
acteristic features such as status, boundaries, surveys, etc.; 
stand and site conditions; the occurrence and interrelation of 
the chief species; past management and results; future, intended 
management, expecially species, silvicultural methods, rota- 
tions, formation of cutting series, roads, markets, by-products, 
the chase, etc. 

Regulation of Cut. — The criterion is the normal periodic 
cutting area. If the same rotation applies throughout the 
forest this area = the total area of the forest X 20 -r- the rota- 
tion. Where there are several rotations, the normal periodic 
cutting area is determined for each species according to the 
ratio of the period to the rotation The total cutting area is 
then secured by adding together those of each species. Since, 
as a rule, the forests are not normal, the actual periodic cutting 
area must be modified to accord with the distribution of the 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 205 

age classes. This modification is predicated on the area of 
mature and overmature stands, i.e., those of or over the rotation 
age, on the area of the next youngest age class, and the ratio 
which the area of all stands less than half the rotation age 
bears to the area of all stands more than half the rotation 
age. Where there is an excess of mature stands more than 
the normal area is cut over; where there is a deficit less is cut 
over. 

Stands of the I period in which reproduction cuttings have 
begun are entered with reduced areas in proportion to the per- 
centage of the stand removed. A distribution of cutting areas 
for the III, IV, V, and VI periods is obsolete; these stands and 
their areas are merely entered in the column headed " later 
periods." In deciding on stands for the I and II period especial 
regard is paid to age and thriftiness, volume and value, and, 
in coniferous stands, on the formation of small cutting series. 

The period method, strictly speaking, is therefore no longer 
used in Alsace-Lorraine. 

The long period of reproduction — often thirty to fifty years 
— requires the assignment of stands for two periods — forty 
years — in advance. The stands intended for cutting in the I 
and II period are usually calipered; those of the II period, if 
sufficiently uniform, may be estimated by means of sample 
areas; thereto must be added the increment calculated to the 
middle of each period. 

The volume of the allowed annual cut is one-twentieth of 
the period volume calculated separately by species. In com- 
munal forests one-fourth of the allowed cut is to be subtracted 
(see above). 

In selection forest the cut is determined from the actual 
increment and the relation of the actual to the normal growing 
stock according to Heyer's formula (method No. 9). In order 
to determine the actual growing stock, all the trees above 
3e- inches (8 centimetres) in diameter are calipered. The 
actual increment is determined by increment borings of trees 
of various diameter classes ; the normal growing stock according 



206 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

to the formula — , where z' = the mean annual increment. The 
2 

number of years in which the excess or deficit of the growing 

stock is to be equalized is determined for each individual case 

according to the particular circumstances. The cutting cycle 

(period between cuts) is not to be placed too high: usually 

seven to nine years. 

Planting and Road Plans are to form a part of every working 
plan. The planting plan embraces not only the methods of 
artificial reproduction, of nursery practice, and the source of 
plant material, but also the care of cutting areas and of young 
plantations. 

Revisions of the Working Plan are to take place in the middle 
of the twenty-year period. The kind and degree of the revision 
to be undertaken follows from the demands made on the plans 
and the changes which, through the methods of management 
pursued or through outside influences, have occurred during the 
first half of the working period (ten years). At the end of the 
working period (twenty years) an entirely new working plan 
is drawn up. 

The essential points to be considered in revision are: Changes 
in area, the actual annual cut as compared with the allowed 
annual cut as regulated, the comparison of the volume yield of 
stands cut over with the estimated volume thereof, the unfore- 
seen cuttings not provided for in the plan, the yield from thin- 
nings, the execution and cost of planting and seeding, the 
changes in servitudes, the relation of by-products to the scheme 
of management, the completion of road and trail buildings, etc. 

An interesting feature is the instruction that a financial 
valuation of the forest must be made when a new working plan 
is prepared or an old one revised. The data for local yield 
tables are to be gathered by establishing carefully chosen, typical, 
permanent sample plots to serve as " index stands." 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 207 

SECTION TWO 

FRANCE 

The total area of France is 132,492,776 acres, of which * 
18.17 P er cen t are covered with forests: 5,187,000 acres, or 77 
per cent, hardwoods; 1,583,270 acres, or 23 per cent, conifers. 
Of these 6,770,270 acres the state forests comprise only 12 
per cent; the communal forests under state management, 
20.2 per cent. 

The forests of France proper may be divided roughly into 
(1) plain and (2) mountain forests. Under (1) may be included 
the Parisienne zone, the Gironde, the Provencale; under (2) 
the Vosges, Jura, Alpes, Plateau Central, and the Pyrenees, f 
Corresponding to the topography the chief species are either 
oak, beech, birch, elm, chestnut, and pine, or, in the mountains, 
fir, spruce, pine, larch, and beech. La Savoie is the only region 
of France where the spruce dominates in the forests. In the 
Pyrenees and along the Mediterranean coast species are found 
distinctive of the region, such as hook pine, d'Alep pine, mari- 
time pine, cork oak, live oak, etc. 

The timber markets of France, while not so intensively de- 
veloped as those of Germany, are still almost as omnivorous as 
those of the neighbor state on the east because of the relatively 
smaller per cent of forest land 4 

The methods of forest organization in France are in striking 
contrast to those in Germany. The conditions of forest owner- 
ship have strongly influenced French forest organization or 
" Amenagement," as it is called. Hitherto it has been gener- 
ally assumed that privately owned forests are not suited to a 
sustained yield management. It was thought that the difficulty 

* From Huff el: " Economie Forestiere." 

t For further details see article: " European Study for Foresters," by A. B. 
Recknagel and Theodore S. Woolsey, Jr.; " Forestry Quarterly," Volume X, 
No. 3, pp. 417-439, especially pp. 429-430, 436-438. 

I In France 18.17; 25.88 per cent in Germany. 



2U8 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

of foretelling future needs and the uncertainty of predicting 
yields were in contravention to the basic principles of forest 
management for private ends and that, furthermore, the grow- 
ing of timber, especially of the larger sizes, is primarily the duty 
of the state and of the communities. These views coincided 
with the actual conditions of forest ownership: in the forests 
owned by the state high forest is the rule with a long rotation;* 
the forests owned communally are usually coppice with stand- 
ards; and the forests privately owned, simple coppice. But 
of late conditions have changed substantially: the increased 
prices of forest products and the decreased interest rate have 
made the growing of the larger sizes of timber profitable also 
for the private owner. 

The chief features of French forest organization are the 
division of area, the methods of regulating the cut, the dis- 
tribution of the periodic cutting areas, and the determination 
of the allowed annual cut. 

Division of Area. — The state forests and the forests under 
state control are divided into series. These series are adjacent 
forest areas with uniform market conditions and a sustained 
yield; they often coincide with the ranger districts (triages). 
" By a series is understood a portion of the forest intended to 
be covered by a special plan of utilization and consequently to 
iurnish a series of annual cutting areas." f 

The series are subdivided into sections. " By a section is 
understood a portion of the forest distinct from the rest by the 
general method of management " (coppice, regular high forest, 
selection high forest, etc.). Accordingly, the segregation into 
sections is based, preferably, on the general method of manage- 
ment (regime) and on the specific silvicultural method of repro- 
duction (mode do traitement). 

The series are further divided into periodic cutting areas 
called " affectations." 

The division by silvical units, i.e., stands, is called the par- 

* 140, 160, 200, and even 240 years. 

f Tassy: " Ltudes sur l'amenagement des forets." 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 209 

celle. These parcelles are the basis of the whole forest organiza- 
tion and of the course of the management. In each forest dis- 
trict (canton) those portions are to be segregated which differ 
in species or in age, or in site, exposure, growth or density 
of stocking, in such a way that each portion or parcelle can be 
handled identically throughout. In the records the parcelles 
are classed as divisions if they are permanent, as subdivisions 
if only temporary. The parcelles are marked by stones at the 
intersections of the boundary lines; the boundaries themselves 
by narrow cleared lines or by signs. 

The forest description of the individual parcelles is accord- 
ing to the following form.* 

Column i. Cantons, i.e., forest district, or block. 

2. Divisions and subdivisions. 

3. 1 Volume f subdivisions. 

4. J Contents of the [ divisions. 

5. Site and elevation. 

6. Exposure. 

7. Slope. 

8. Soil. 

9. Percentage of each species in the mixture. 

10. Age. 

11. Character of the stand. 

12. Growth. 

13. Remarks. 

Method of Determining the Cut. — The cut is determined by 
the area period method as appears from the following tabulated 
form for working plans. f 

Column 1. Number of the affectation. 

2. Names of the cantons. 

3. Divisions and subdivisions. 

* Called " Etat descriptif des divisions et subdivisions." 

t Reglement general des exploitations par periode pendant la premiere 
revolution (revolution equals rotation). See also Methode de Masson, Methode 
de 1883 (French Method), Methode du Controle, Nos. 3, 10, and 13, respectively. 



210 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



Column 4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
io 
ii 

12 

13 
14 

i5 
16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

23 
24 

25 



Area in hectares of the 



Age 



subdivisions. 

divisions. 

Site, exposure, soil. 

Percentage of each species. 

Density and growth of the stand. 

present. 

at the time of cutting. 

f final cuttings J ordinary. 

^ [in hectares [ extraordinary. 

Thinnings, in hectares. 

f final cuttings J ordinary. 

^ (in hectares ( extraordinary. 

Thinnings, in hectares. 

final. 

thinnings. 

final. 

thinnings. 

final. 

thinnings. 

. , . . . \ final. 

VI period cuttings, in hectares j , . . 

Remarks. 



III period cuttings, in hectares 

IV period cuttings, in hectares 

V period cuttings, in hectares 



The number and length of the periods vary with the species 
and the locality. For oak in central France eight periods of 
twenty-five years each are formed ; for beech usually six periods 
of twenty years each; for fir four or five or more periods of thirty 
years each. The number of the periods and their length require 
the approval of the minister.* 

The rotation age is only fixed tentatively " without attempt- 
ing to fix it definitely by applying experiences whose value is 
often only specious." f 

For the state forests a rotation age is chosen which corre- 



* Formerly of the Emperor himself by a decree. 
f From a French working plan. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



211 



sponds to the maximum possible yield of the most useful classes 
of materials. This has resulted in a conservative tendency 
showing itself in the present conditions of the forests of France 
and of Alsace-Lorraine. In general the adopted rotations are 
distributed as follows: 



Reg. high forest . 
Select, high forest 



Rotation Age 



Under ioo years 100-150 years 150-200 years 



35-7% of total area 
9.8% of total area 



43.1% of total area 
43-7% of total area 



21.2% of total area 
46.5% of total area 



Distribution of the Periodic Cutting Areas. — This is the most 
characteristic feature of French forest organization. The 
periodic cutting areas are to be so arranged that they com- 
prise the area of each period without a break or interrupting 
area of another period. This is in direct contradiction to the 
aim of the German forest organization, particularly of the 
Saxon. The reasons given for this distribution are simplicity 
in reproduction cuttings; of regularity of formation of the pe- 
riodic cutting areas with their narrow side toward the prevail- 
ing storm direction and bounded wherever possible by roads. 
Tassy in his " Etudes sur l'amenagement des forets " lays 
especial stress on the undesirability of breaking up the periodic 
cutting areas into cutting series.* 

This principle has been followed in the working plans for 
the state and communal forests. The periodic cutting areas 
are systematically grouped in the maps and on the ground. 
The immediate consequence is that many stands are cut not at 
the time of their maturity, but too soon or too late; furthermore, 
the reproduction cuttings become very large and thus, in the 
future, there will be extensive stands of even age. Both con- 
sequences are attended with drawbacks of management (in- 



* Tassy, troisieme etude, Chapter IV, Section 3, " Formation des affectations 
conformement aux regies d'assiette." 



212 ' THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

creased danger of windfall, fire, insects, fungi, etc.), even though 
these are less in France by reason of the prevalence of the nat- 
ural reproduction and the predominance of hardwoods than 
they would be, for example, under German conditions. 

Determination of the Allowed Annual Cut is both by volumes 
and by values. For the cuttings of the first period a special 
cutting plan or felling budget is drawn up (Reglement special 
des exploitations pour la premiere periode) in which the cutting 
areas and volumes are entered, arranged according to the 
divisions and subdivisions and according to final cuttings 
(Coupes principales) further divided into Coupes ordinaires 
and Coupes extraordinaires, and thinnings (Coupes inter- 
mediates). 

The volume of the Coupes principales is determined first by 
caliper measurements entered separately by species; the volumes 
are then computed from volume tables based on the contents 
of sample trees of the various diameter classes. 

The increment for the years elapsing between the estimate 
and the cutting is disregarded in the computation. 

Thinnings are regulated by area; their volume is taken from 
the experience of the preceding decade. 

To the determination of the allowed annual cut by volume 
is added one by values (Evaluation en argent de la possibilite). 
This is based on the estimate of the classes of timber which is 
made for each species and for each class on the value according 
to the prevailing prices (prix sur pied par nature de mar- 
chandises). Adding the values of each class gives the total value 
of the felling budget. 

The regulation of cut in coppice and in coppice with stand- 
ards is by area. Coppice systems have reached a point of 
development in France far in advance of that in other European 
countries. The regulation of coppice dates from the ordinances 
of Colbert in 1669. The division of area depends on the rota- 
tion age of the coppice under the standards. In the State for- 
ests 50 per cent have a coppice rotation of twenty to thirty 
years; 46 per cent have a rotation of over thirty years in the 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 213 

communal forests 77 per cent have a rotation of twenty to thirty 
years, 20 per cent a rotation of over thirty years.* The stand- 
ards are arranged by age classes and distributed equally on the 
area. These standards are either two, three, or four times the 
rotation age (baliveaux de l'age, modernes, and anciens, respect- 
ively). The cut of standards is determined by the number 
of stems of each class and is usually accomplished with the utmost 
regularity. 



SECTION THREE 

AUSTRIA 



Austria, exclusive of Hungary, f contains 74,101,976 acres, 
of which 24,125,888 acres or 32.6 per cent are forested. | This 
puts Austria fourth in the rank of timbered countries of Europe, 
preceded only by Sweden with 49 per cent forest area, Fin- 
land with 46 per cent, and Russia with 39 per cent. The 
ownership of Austrian forests, which has profoundly influ- 
enced the development of forestry there, is as follows: State 
forests 11 per cent of the total area, communal forests 14 
per cent, church forests 17 per cent, private forests 59 per 
cent.§ 

Austria can be conveniently divided into five great dis- 
tricts; these, with their percentage of forested area and the 
per cent of timber tracts over 2500 acres in size, are as 
follows : 



* For simple coppice 56 per cent of the State forests and 76 per cent of the 
communal forests have a rotation age of twenty to thirty years. 

| The differences of race and language have resulted in all but the political 
separation of the two countries. 

\ In Hungary it is 27.8 per cent, in Germany 25.88 per cent, in France 18.17 
per cent. 

§ Data from " Die Holzproduktion Oesterreichs. K. K. Ackerbauministerium, 
1907. See also " A Glimpse of Austrian Forestry," by Theodore S. Woolsey, 
Jr., Proc. Soc. Am. Fsters., Vol. IX, No. 1, pp. 7 to 37. 



214 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

w n f % of tracts 

District and included Provinces forest area 2 .5°° acres 

and over 

Danube (Niederosterreich, Oberosterrcich) 34-2 44-6 

Alps (Salzburg, Tirol, Steiermark, Karnten, and 

Krain) 41.8 41 . 1 

Coast (Kiistenland, Dalmatia) 29 . 6 37-7 

Northwest (Bohemia, Mahren, Schlesien) 29. 1 65.7 

Northeast (Galicia, Bukowina) 27.7 69 . 6 

Totals 32.6 54.3 

of which nearly one-half are tracts of 7500 acres in size or more; 
nearly one-quarter, or half of the half are tracts of 25,000 acres 
or more. 

This division corresponds fairly well with the general topog- 
raphy and the forest conditions. The Alps and the northeast 
districts (Carpathians) comprise tremendous mountain ranges; 
the Alps continue in diminished form through the coast district 
to the southeast and break down northward into the rolling 
plains and foothills of the Danube district, this foothill charac- 
ter is preserved through most of the northwest district adjoin- 
ing thereon, grading gradually into the main ranges of the 
Carpathians, the divide of which forms the boundary between 
the northern districts of Austria and Hungary. 

The coniferous species in Austria cover over 60 per cent of 
the total forest area; 21 per cent are hardwoods; the balance 
of 19 per cent are mixed stands. Spruce predominates with 44 
per cent of the total forest area, it occurs at almost all eleva- 
tions from the plains up to timber line, only in Dalmatia is it 
lacking. Scotch pine is next, with 7 per cent of the total for- 
est area, chiefly occurring on the plains. The remainder of the 
60 per cent of coniferous stands are mixtures of various species 
— fir, Austrian and other pines, and larch. 

Of the hardwood stands which cover 21 per cent of the 
total forest area, beech leads the list with 10 per cent, the 
remaining n per cent are stands of oak with beech, or horn- 
beam with beech, or of aspen, alder, birch, etc. 

The 19 per cent of mixed stands are admixtures of larch, 
Pinus cembra (" Zirbe "), ash, elm, maple, chestnut, etc. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 215 

Austria shows within its boundaries the greatest variety of 
forest conditions.* All phases of vegetation are encountered 
from the semi-tropical shores of the Adriatic grading through 
the sandy and often rocky coastal plains, through the mount- 
ing foothills to the dolomitic or archaic fastnesses of the Alps 
and Carpathians, where all tree growth is dwarfed and even the 
lower stands are constantly threatened with rock slides and 
avalanches. The forest products vary accordingly from the 
finest timbers with high rotations down to mere fuel woods with 
the shortest of coppice rotations. Similarly, some forests are 
in immediate proximity to dense centres of population — as, 
e.g., the Wienerwald just outside the gates of Vienna — permitting 
almost perfect utilization because of a voracious market; some 
forests, on the other hand, are still virgin and as yet out of 
profitable reach of the lumberman's axe. Gradually, though, 
the increasing prices of timber are making accessible at a profit 
even the stands most remote from centres of population, and 
soon there will be no virgin forests in Austria. f 

Again, the task of forest management is, sometimes, as in 
Salzburg, burdened by servitudes; elsewhere no such restric- 
tions exist. As a result the market varies greatly, but in gen- 
eral it is developing rapidly, especially in the export trade 
to Germany and Italy and other European or Oriental coun- 
tries. 

Eighty-five per cent of the Austrian timberlands are man- 
aged as high forest, of which one-third is selection forest 
mostly in the "high" protection zone of the Alps; 12 per 

* See " Methods of Natural Regeneration in Austria " and " Methods of 
Artificial Regeneration in Austria," Articles VIII and IX, respectively, in the 
series: " Some Aspects of European Forestry," F. Q., Vol. XI, No. 4, pp. 
470-498, reprinted in 1913. 

f The Austrian government now constructs its own logging devices, sawmills, 
railroads, chutes, flumes, etc.; these are used by the purchaser of the stumpage 
for which use he pays a proportionately higher stumpage price. Formerly stump- 
age was sold as in America, and the purchaser put in his own improvements; 
as rapidly as possible these improvements were then bought up by the govern- 
ment and paid for in cash or in timber. 



216 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

cent are managed as coppice; 3 per cent as coppice with 
standards. 

Forest organization in Austria has reached a remarkable 
state of perfection despite the exceedingly irregular conditions 
as portrayed. The Austrian Kameraltaxe (Austrian formula — 
see method No. 5) dates from 1788; in the Tyrol a volume 
period method was in use in the sixteenth century. From these 
early beginnings a systematic forest organization has been built 
up and extended even to the most remote regions,* comprising 
not only the state forests but also the large tracts privately 
owned. Practically half of the forested area of Austria is under 
working plans. 

The salient features of Austrian working plans as contained 
in the government code of 1901 f are as follows: 

Division of Area begins with the setting aside of protection 
forest wherever necessary; it is usually divided from the lower 



* For example, the remote Bukowina, lying between Russia and Rumania 
on the extreme eastern border of Austria, shows 73 per cent of its 1,113,970 acres 
of forest covered by detailed working plans in perfect operation. When this 
province was acquired by Austria in 1775 from Turkey it was largely — nearly 
50 per cent of the total area — in trackless virgin forest. The first work of forest 
organization, that of making provisional working plans, was completed in 1818. 
About 1850 the preparation of final working plans was begun on the basis of period 
area method; failing of systematic revisions these soon became mere waste paper, 
the more so since it was impossible, for lack of markets and of logging facilities, 
to carry out the cuttings as planned. In 1875 a thorough reorganization of the 
forest administration in the Bukowina was begun looking to the opening up of the 
hitherto inaccessible timber resources. A section of forest organization (Ein- 
richtungsabteilung) was created in the Bukowina district similar to that already 
existing in all the other district offices of the empire. A thorough reconnaissance 
(Durchforschung) was made and on this basis new provisional working plans 
prepared, beginning, of course, with the more accessible forests. As the data 
and utilization warranted it, these were transformed into regular plans with fre- 
quent revisions, on the model of those prescribed for the rest of Austria. For the 
development of working plans practice in the provinces of Bosnia and Herzego- 
vina, see " Die forstlichen Verhaltnisse und Einrichtung Bosniens und der Her- 
zegovina," L. Dimitz, Vienna, 1905, briefed For. Quart., Vol. Ill, No. 2, pp. 

143-150- 

t " Instruktion fiir die Begrenzung, Vermessung und Betriebseinrichtung 
der Oesterreichischen Staats und Fondsforste," 3d edition, 1901. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 217 

slopes by a trail following the appropriate contour. This pro- 
tection belt is always managed as strictest selection forest. 
The management for the rest of the working unit is then decided 
upon and the area divided into " Betriebsklassen " (working 
groups), cutting series, compartments, and subcompartments. 

An area with a uniform silvicultural method and rotation, 
uniform market and constituting a single logging unit is called 
a Betriebsklasse; it is further divided into cutting series, whose 
formation depends on the topography, the species, and the 
method of reproduction. A single cutting series does not usually 
comprise more than three compartments. The boundaries of 
the cutting series are topographical or artificial — roads, com- 
partment lines, etc. These boundaries are to be cleared of tim- 
ber to a width of from 16 to 26 feet, in order that a wind-resist- 
ing mantle may form along the edges of the stands. Cutting 
series are shown on the maps by arrows. 

The compartments (Abteilungen) are units of convenience; 
their shape is quadrangular, 2600 to 3300 feet long and about 
two-thirds as wide. The boundary lines are topographic, 
cultural (roads, railroads, etc.), or else artificial. The last are 
either " Schneisen " and are usually made 6| feet wide (2 
metres), or are " Wirtschafts Streifen," with the regular width 
of 16 to 26 feet (5-8 metres). 

The division into subcompartments (Unterabteilungen) is 
based (1) on differences in required treatment of which the fol- 
lowing are distinguished: High forest with clear cutting; high 
forest with shelterwood cutting; high forest with selection cut- 
ting; simple coppice; coppice with standards; forest burdened 
with servitudes; protection forest, voluntary or enforced by 
law: or (2) on differences in species if the stands are pure: 
or (3) on substantial differences in percentage of mixture if 
the stands are mixed: or (4) on differences in average age, ex- 
ceeding ten years in young, twenty years in old high forest, 
five years in coppice forest: or (5) on marked differences in 
site quality or stand quality as shown by substantial differences 
in the height growth of equal-aged stands: or (6) on marked 



218 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

differences in the density of stocking: or (7) on need of artificial 
reproduction. 

The minimum size of a subcompartment is i| acres. The 
boundaries are marked with stenciled numbers painted in 
oil color on the corner trees or else by means of symbols made 
with a tree scribe; in young stands narrow alleys are cleared. 

Estimates and Forest Description. — As a general rule yield 
tables are constructed for the various silvicultural methods of 
management, species, and site classes, based on sample areas 
measured during the progress of the field-work. The following 
form is used : 

Column 1. Age. 

2. Number of stems per hectare. 

3. Basal area at 1.3 M. above ground, in square 

metres. 

4. Average diameter at 1.3 M. above ground, in 

centimetres. 

5. Average height in metres. 

6. Average annual height increment in metres. 

7. Volume by timber classes, in cubic metres. 

8. Increment — current annual, in cubic metres. 

9. Increment — mean annual, in cubic metres. 
10. Increment per cent — mean annual. 

These yield tables are compared with the published yield 
tables of the International Association of Forest Experiment 
Stations. 

The description of the individual stand covers the following 
phases : 

(1) Soil and site. 

(2) Species, percentage of mixture and general form of the 
stand. The percentage of mixture is expressed in tenths accord- 
ing to the area occupied by each species. Shelterwood cuttings 
are considered as preparatory if .8 of the original volume 
remains; as seed cuttings if .5 to .8 remains; as removal cut- 
tings if less than .5 remains. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



219 



(3) Both the average age and the age limits are given. 
The table of age-class distribution takes the following form: 



Column 



1 
2 

3 

4 

5 
6 

7 
8 

9 

10 

ri 
12 

13 

M 

15 
16 



Compartment number. 
Subcompartment letter. 
Site and stand quality. 
Barrens and blanks. 

I stands 1-20 f partly stocked 
years old [ fully stocked 

II stands 21-40 years old 

III stands 41-60 years old 

IV stands 61-80 years old 1- in hectares. 

V stands 81-100 years old 

VI stands 101-120 years old 

VII stands over 120 years old 
Total area. 
Area in J of the areas under reproduction, 
hectares [ of the areas under selection forest. 
Remarks. 



A separate age-class table is prepared for each " Betriebs- 
klasse " (working group). 

Areas in process of reproduction are entered in full in Column 
14. But, if the cutting is shelterwood, the proper propor- 
tions of the areas appear also in the age class (Columns 4-12) 
so as to show the existing proportion of old timber, young growth, 
and blanks. 

Below the actual area of each age class, the normal area 
thereof is entered for the purposes of comparison. 

(4) As index to the yield the following factors are entered: 

(a) The average height of the stand. 

(b) The sum of the basal areas. 

(c) The site quality and species occupying it. 

(d) The present density in tenths of 1.0 = fully stocked. 
Stands are to be considered fully stocked if the actual volume 
per hectare corresponds to the volume given in the yield table 
for the same age, site quality, species, and silvicultural method. 



220 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(5) The volume of those stands which are to be cut in the 
next two decades. 

(6) The mean annual increment prorated to the end of the 
rotation. 

The data on volume and increment of the younger stands is 
taken from yield tables; in stands approaching maturity exact 
measurements in the field are required. Stands of varying 
density and all under 5 acres in size are to be calipered com- 
pletely. In very irregular stands (e.g., mixed species, un- 
even-aged, etc.), sample plots are measured to cover from 5 to 10 
per cent of the total area. The volume is calculated from the 
calipered diameters by measuring average trees, so chosen 
that in height and diameter they represent the stand in minia- 
ture. 

These data are combined in a tabular forest description 
which takes the following form (general stand table) : 

Column 1. Locality. 

2. Compartment — number. 

3. Subcompartment — letter. 

4. Soil and slope. 

5. Species, per cent of mixture and general form of 

stand. 

6. Age of stand — years. 

7. Average height of stand — metres. 

8. Total basal area — square metres. 

9. Site quality. 

10. Density of stand in decimals of 1.0. 

11. Area in hectares. 

12. 1 . f per hectare. 
\ Volume in cubic metres \ , L , 

13. J ( lor total area. 

14. I Mean annual increment prorated J per hectare 

15. J to rotation age, in cubic metres ( for total area. 

16. Volume increment per cent. 

17. Quality increment per cent. 

18. Index per cent. 

19. Remarks. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 221 

This is supplemented by a general forest description for 
the entire area, covering all of the forest conditions — natural, 
legal, political, economic, commercial, financial, and adminis- 
trative, including personnel. 

Determination of the Cut is for a decade in advance. The 
allowed cut is divided into final cuttings, thinnings, and acci- 
dental cuttings. The basis of regulation is the normal periodic 
cutting area. If the conditions are regular this is adhered to 
as strictly as possible. Often there are large amounts of over- 
mature timber, as, e.g., in the virgin forests of the Bukowina 
mentioned in foot-note preceding, where with a 120-year rota- 
tion the stands over 100 years old aggregate 116,592 hectares 
instead of the normal (based on age-class relation) of 33,221 
hectares; an excess of 83,371 hectares.* In these overmature 
stands the increment merely offsets the decay and their inter- 
est yield on the investment is nil. To substitute for them 
young, thriftily growing stands was axiomatic, but required 
cutting in excess of the normally allowed area. The amount 
of excess permissible was fixed on the following three considera- 
tions: (1) Not so great that reproduction, natural or artificial, 
cannot keep pace with the cutting, and so imperil the con- 
tinuity of the forest; (2) not so great as to depress prices by 
glutting the market and thus losing all the financial advantage 
gained by stimulated increment; (3) not so great as to cause 
too serious disturbances of the sustained yield. These con- 
siderations were met by a sliding scale of gradually approaching 
the normal as follows: In the I period of twenty years 1.5 the 
normal area can be cut (sometimes 1.6 in the first decade, 1.4 
in the second decade); in the II period of twenty years 1.3 
of the normal area can be cut; in the III period of twenty 
years 1.2 of the normal can be cut, and thenceforth approx- 
imately the normal amount only is to be cut. During the decade 
ending 1910 the average annual cutting area in the Bukowina 



* " Die Forstwirtschaft und ihre Industrial . . . im Herzogthume 
Bukowina,", by E. Guzman, Vienna, 1901. 



222 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

was 3008 hectares, or approximately 1.5 the normal of 2031 
hectares. 

The rotation age is determined on the basis of highest net 
annual income (forest rent) unless there are cogent reasons, such 
as legal constraints, logging or market conditions, for keeping 
a higher rotation. Stands are usually considered mature, 
i.e., of proper cutting age, whose index per cent has sunk below 
the adopted interest per cent on the investment and whose 
cutting will not interfere with the proper development of the 
cutting series. 

In addition to the stands thus mature, the cuttings of the 
ensuing working period are to include all very open stands and 
stands with unsatisfactory increment whose reproduction is 
obviously desirable; and also such stands as must be sacrificed 
to the proper progress of the cutting series. 

The aim is, obviously, to approach a normal distribution of 
the age classes. The length of time required in this approach 
to normal is fixed tentatively. To aid in this and in the fixa- 
tion of the decade cutting area the results of past cuttings are 
reviewed, especially in their effect on the development of the 
proper age-class distribution; this last is shown graphically 
for decades past. 

Based on these considerations the decade cutting area is 
finally fixed and the volume thereon, increased by adding the 
increment to the middle of the decade, constitutes the allowed 
cut for the decade. 

In the selection forest of the protective belt, everything is 
subordinated to the protective function and hence no sustained 
annual cut is determined, but the allowed cut merely approxi- 
mated from experience. 

Control and revision of the working plan which is docu- 
mented in bound form and called an " Operat." — The following 
current records are kept: 

(1) The memoranda book (" Gedenkbuch ") wherein all 
changes other than those changes which result from the cuttings 
prescribed in the working plan are entered. Changes in sur- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 223 

veys; in logging methods; substantial injuries to the forest by 
man, climate, fire, etc.; the progress of the hunt and of fishing; 
personnel ; statistics of volume yield and money returns ; forest 
experiments, etc. It corresponds closely to the general part 
of the Prussian " Hauptmerkbuch." 

(2) The management book corresponds to the Prussian 
control book, together with the specific part of the Prussian 
" Hauptmerkbuch." It is divided in two parts: The first gives 
for each subcompartment (figure of control — " Kontrollfigur ") 
the yield of cuttings by classes of material and area, the com- 
pleted seeding and planting, and the early care of the stand. 
The second part contains the total annual cut of the whole 
forest (working unit, " Wirtschaftsbezirk ") compared with the 
estimate. 

(3) Index of changes in status, comparison of the total 
annual actual with the allowed cut in volume and area; sum- 
mary .of accidental — i.e., unforeseen — cuttings, of plantings, 
of receipts and expenditures, of net income, etc. 

Regular revisions are made in the last year of the ten-year 
working period; revisions may be necessary between times if 
unforeseen contingencies occur, such as large windfall, insect 
damage, change of area, etc. The most important tasks of the 
revision are: First, the determination of whether the provisions 
of the working plan just terminating were observed in every 
detail; whether and to what extent the departures therefrom 
were justified; and whether the prescriptions of the working 
plan proved correct, singly and collectively. Second, the cor- 
rection of the existing maps and estimates which may neces- 
sitate the collection of additional field data. Third, the prep- 
aration of the working plan for the next ten years. 



224 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

SECTION FOUR 

RESUME 

A review of the practice of working plans in Europe shows 
that forest organization developed very differently in the 
various countries. The differences consist in the form of 
the working-plan document; in the length of the working 
period; in the methods of estimating, forest description, map- 
ping; in the principles and nomenclature of the divisions of area. 
These differences arose primarily out of differences in the 
forest conditions to which the methods of forest organization 
were adapted; in part also because the various practices de- 
veloped independently of one another. Many of the rules and 
regulations for working plans remained practically unknown 
outside of their immediate sphere of application. 

Despite these differences, the various existing methods of 
forest organization are very similar in the essentials of working 
plans. For all, the most important task is recognized to be the 
designation of the areas which are to be reproduced. For this 
the character and composition of the individual stands is 
scrutinized. The more unfavorable the condition of the stands 
is in regard to growth, density, etc., the more is their early 
cutting indicated. At the same time, however, all the existing 
methods demand that the stands are not to be considered by 
themselves alone, but in conjunction with the whole area of 
which they form a part and their treatment decided upon 
accordingly. In general agreement are, furthermore, the 
methods of determining the allowed cut. At first, regulation 
was by volume alone, as fitted the irregular conditions encoun- 
tered; as management progressed, area came to play a more 
and more important part in regulation. Area and volume 
combined are now the basis of regulation in all intensively 
managed forests. In Prussia, Austria, Saxony, and other 
countries, the criterion of yield is the normal periodic cutting 
area wherever the conditions are sufficiently regular. This area 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 225 

is increased or diminished according to the distribution of the 
age classes. The volume on the periodic cutting area consti- 
tutes the allowed periodic cut and affords, by volume regula- 
tion, a check on the sustained character of the yield. 

The consequent progress of forest organization is also very 

similar. In the formula - or a — , which represents the annual 

r r 

or the periodic cutting area, respectively, r, the rotation, is 
set as a definite figure, as indeed is necessary for the execution 
of a working plan during a definite working period. As a 
matter of fact, however, the rotation age is not a fixed quantity, 
when considered for a longer period of time, but a varying 
quantity influenced by the changing conditions of management. 
To recognize these conditions and to set forth clearly their 
influence is the common task of all methods of forest organiza- 
tion, a task more important than the form of the working- 
plan document and the method of determining the cut. The 
rotation age, i.e., the age of technical, economic, financial, 
or other maturity, whichever may be chosen, is dependent on 
all the conditions of site, silviculture, utilization, and economics, 
which influence the increment of the stands and the value of the 
timber. 



CHAPTER II 

IN AMERICA 

SECTION ONE 

EARLY BEGINNINGS * 

Working plans are almost coincident with the beginnings of 
American forestry. Before the control of the national forests 
passed over to the Forest Service of the Department of Agri- 
culture in 1905, the then Bureau of Forestry, through its offer 
of cooperation with private owners, prepared many working 
plans for timber tracts in the Eastern and Southern States. 
Since these plans were for very irregular, extensive conditions 
and were generally intended for execution by laymen who had 
little or no conception of the purposes of forest management, 
it was inevitable that they exceeded the confines of mere forest 
organization and often consisted chiefly of elaborate forest 
descriptions and estimates, emphasizing the silvical character- 
istics of the more important species, of logging methods and rules 
to prevent waste. Actual calculation of the cut was con- 
fined to a rather crude diameter-limit method which emphasized 
the possible periods of return for an equal or approximately 
equal cut. Little or no attempt was made to distribute the 
cut according to the needs of the individual stands: the regu- 
lation was by volume alone. 

As working plans these were, probably, with rare exceptions, 
failures; for no plan can hope to live that is made from the 



* See " Working Plans: Past History, Present Situation, and Future Develop- 
ment," by Barrington Moore, Proc. Soc. Am. Fsters., Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 217-258, 
especially pp. 220 to 224. 

226 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 227 

outside without an adequate understanding of the silvicultural 
and economic conditions. It was a precocious attempt to make 
a plan on European models without the basis of exact knowl- 
edge which is the fruit of decades of European experience. 

The plans, as such, were valuable chiefly for the estimates, 
maps, and other field data which they furnished to the owner, 
and for the volume, growth, and other silvical data which they 
furnished to the Bureau, together with a splendid field training 
for the men concerned in the work. 

It is doubtful if any of the plans were ever maintained; for 
no adequate provisions were made for their control and revision 
and, though drawn up for decades in advance, they soon lapsed 
into desuetude. 

Some were published as bulletins of the Bureau, and are 
now chiefly valuable for the volume and growth tables, and 
other silvical data which they contain, and as landmarks of the 
progress toward an American forest management. 



SECTION TWO 

RECONNAISSANCE 



On February i, 1905, the Forest Service of the Department 
of Agriculture took over the charge of the then forest reserves. 
The tremendous task of organizing the administrative machinery 
over an area of over 100 million acres absorbed all the energies 
of the forest service, and although the need of working plans 
was repeatedly recognized by those in authority and a few 
sporadic plans were actually made,* nothing systematic was 



* For the details of this development see article " The New Reconnaissance, 
Working Plans that Work," in Proceedings Soc. Am. Foresters, Vol. IV. No. 1. 
Reprinted Yale Publishing Association, 1909. See also " Working Plans: Past 
History, Present Situation, and Future Development," by Barrington Moore, 
Proc. Soc. Am. Foresters, Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 217-258, especially pp. 224-232. 



228 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

done until the winter of 1907-08, when for the first time rough 
estimates of the timber standing on the various national forests 
were compiled. 

The section of reconnaissance in the office of forest manage- 
ment was reorganized and its activities diverted from a study 
of the distribution, existing volume, utilization, and manage- 
ment of the more important commercial species (so called " Com- 
mercial Tree Studies ") to the far more pressing task of sys- 
tematizing and controlling the estimates, allowed annual cut, 
marking rules, stumpage rates, and sale policy of the national 
forests which then aggregated about 175 million acres. 

The compilation of estimates from the various national 
forests was so glaringly inadequate that steps were immedi- 
ately taken to secure reliable estimates of all the forests, begin- 
ning with those where the cutting was heaviest and threatened 
to exceed the proper allowance. By the placing of several 
parties in the field each season good progress has been made 
towards securing fairly reliable estimates and forest descriptions 
and usually excellent maps. 

Based on these field data, insufficient though they are, sim- 
ple working plans have been prepared in accordance with stand- 
ard outlines. The outline of 19 12 which is still in effect is as 
follows: 

I. General Description 

(General data which relates to two or more sections of the plan, or which 
can be treated more logically here than under other sections. Under most 
headings the discussion will be a summary of important points treated in 
detail in other sections of the plan.) 
Creation. Area, past and present. Totals of alienated lands by classes. 

(Tabulated form.) , . 

Physical features. (Concise. Include the information which has a distinct 
bearing upon or forms the basis for the provisions of the plan.) 
Climate. (Data not of direct application may be placed in the Appendix.) 
Topography. (For use in the division of the forest into working circles, 
as well as its bearing upon use, development, and administration of 
the forest.) 
Geology. (As it affects soils, etc.) 
Soils. (In such form that statement made may be appl'ed directly in 

silvicultural practice, settlement, policy, etc.) 
Land classification. Forest, agriculture, grazing, barren, etc. (Tabu- 
lated. Brief discussion, if necessary.) 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 229 

Transportation. (Railroads, water, etc., only as it affects the administra- 
tion or the development of the forest.) 

Settlement. Present and probable future. (As it affects the forest and the 
plan.) 

Industries. Mining, grazing, ranching, lumbering, etc. (Only as they have 
a bearing on the plan.) 

II. Silviculture 
Timber: 

Estimates and detailed descriptions of timber. Estimates by species, 
separately by divisions, blocks, and other natural or artificial sub- 
divisions. Quality and condition of timber, age classes if stand is 
even-aged, accessibility, information on logging, etc., as necessary, 
cut-over areas. (Tabulation.) 
Forest Types. Composition, occurrence, distribution of age classes, and 
condition of timber. (Concise general descriptions, and the funda- 
mental silvicultural requirements and principles which form the 
basis for the choice and application of silvicultural systems.) 
Species. (Concise. Treat, from the standpoint of the type and 
the stand rather than the individual tree, the characteristics 
and requirements upon which will be based conclusions regard- 
ing the species to be favored and the relation in the management 
of each species to the others in the stand or type.) 
Climatic, soil, moisture, and light requirements. 
Growth, form, volume, etc. (Tables to be included in the plan 
if they will be used frequently, otherwise in the Appendix.) 
Reproduction. Advance reproduction present. Conditions 
necessary to secure it. 
Value of wood. (Properties. Comparative values.) 
Causes of injury. Fire, insects, fungi, mistletoe, smeiter fumes, 
weather, animals, etc. (Control under protection.) 
Increment. Yield tables or other data, or the method used to deter- 
mine increment. Effect of thinnings on growth, etc. 
Timber operations. 
Markets. 

Consumption and demand, local and general, past, present, and 
future. Relation to surrounding forests if any. Cut, by years, 
sales, and free use. (For use in the determination of working 
circle boundaries and in regulation.) 
Prices. (To aid in stumpage appraisals.) 
Methods and utilization. (Methods in relation to preservation of proper 
silvicultural conditions, also as a basis for costs. Reasonable possi- 
bilities in utilization.) 
Costs. (As a basis for stumpage appraisals.) 
Objects of Management. Watershed protection, species of timber and classes 
of material, sustained annual or periodic yield, etc. (State specifically 
in order of importance the objects which materially affect the provisions 
of the plan.) 
Silvicultural Systems and their application. For each type. (Concise de- 
scriptions of the systems adopted and provisions for their specific appli- 
cation. Include brush disposal.) 
Regulation of yield: 

Rotation, cutting cycles, etc. (Rotation of maximum volume production. 

Cutting cycles as short as practical considerations will allow.) 
Division of the forest into necessary divisions (working circles), areas 
within which sustained yield, annual or periodic, is now or will ulti- 
mately be desirable, based upon markets, transportation, and to- 

13 



230 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

pography. (This may be done elsewhere in cases where such action 

will simplify treatment.) 

Blocks and chances only when they are actually needed to assist in 
regulation. (Blocks — main logging units or groups of logging 
units. Chances — single logging units or the subdivision of 
blocks necessary to carry out the management.) 

Annual or periodic cut. The limitation of cut including sales and 
free use. Accurately for ten years, and approximately for the 
periods of the rotation. (Include in the plan only the essential 
features of the method used, and cover necessary details in the 
Appendix. Blank table for tabulation of limitation and amounts 
actually cut. Sales and free use.) 

Sales. (By divisions, if advisable.) 

Policy. Restriction and encouragement and location. (The plan of 
cutting and specific application to actual conditions of the preceding 
conclusions and of the service policy and regulations. Past man- 
agement to be treated only as it will help in an understanding of that 
proposed.) 

Stumpage appraisals. Maximum and minimum rates. 

Administration and other features. Special force needed. Costs. 
(Summary for use in obtaining total forest expenditures in Section 
VII.) 
Free Use. (Principles applying specifically the general free use policy, espe- 
cially where it is more or less vague and general. By divisions, if 
advisable.) 

Present and prospective annual demand by classes of users and of forest 
products. 

Policy, restriction, or encouragement by districts and classes of products. 

Administration. Free use areas. Blanket or year long permits. Other 
measures to promote economy. Special force needed. Costs. 
(Summary for use in obtaining total forest expenditures in Section 
VII.) 

Map or maps showing topography, types, classification of timber, boundaries 
of divisions, blocks, etc., free use areas, cut-over areas, etc. 

Forestation: 

General relation to ultimate timber management. 

Areas requiring forestation. By types. (Brief description. Tabulated.) 

Methods and species. (Concise. Base upon results of past work. In 

addition to sowing, planting, etc., include seed collection, poisoning 

rodents, etc.) 

Detailed plan. (Five years, or if impracticable, omit and provide for 

annually.) 

Areas, methods, and costs. (Tabulated.) 

Administrative features. Special force needed. (Regular and 
special work such as seed collecting, etc.) 
Nursery. 

Ultimate production, species, and numbers. 
Methods. (Essential features.) 
Detailed plan. (Five years.) 

Species, numbers, and costs. (Tabulated form.) 
Administrative features. Special force needed. 
Map showing areas to be reforested, classified as above, etc. 

Investigations: (Which can be conducted inexpensively in connection with 
the regular administration of the forest and which should result in prac- 
tical information needed in the administration. Brief.) 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 231 

III. Grazing 

jx.ange Management: 

Types. (Concise descriptions of each.) 

Names of important and characteristic forage plants. 
Accurate data on seasons of growth. 
Accurate data on forage value. 
Acreage. With forage. Waste. (Tabulated.) 
Carrying capacity. Present. Possible. Brief descriptions. By allotments 

or divisions. (Tabulated.) 
Demand and other local conditions in the live-stock industry which affect 

grazing on the forest. Relation to silviculture. 
Allotments. 

Arrangement. (Division of the range between cattle and sheep, grazing 
districts, and individual allotments to be shown on map. Guiding 
principles, or necessary comment in the discussion.) To secure 
Best division between cattle and sheep. 
Full and equal utilization. 

Best division of types and early and late ranges. 
Best division of watering places. 
Proper silvicultural and watershed protection. 
Number and kind of stock grazed. By allotments or divisions. Num- 
ber of permits by classes. 
Seasons. (To secure full utilization of the forage without seriously in- 
terfering with the natural requirements of plant growth, each 
portion of the range should occasionally, every few years, be grazed 
only during the last half of the natural growing period in order to 
keep the plant constitutions strong and allow some actual reseeding. 
So far as is consistent with this principle, the green tender feed should 
be available for the stock during as much of the season as is prac- 
ticable. This is essential, especially for sheep. This plan may be 
considered a variation of seasons or a division of allotment.) 
Fees. By classes of stock and season. (Tabulated.) 
Methods of handling stock. 

Cattle. (Salting and necessary riding by permittees to secure equal 
utilization of range and prevent congregation along streams and 
water holes, with resulting destruction of plant growth and poor 
development of stock.) 
Sheep. 

Size of bands. 

Herding. (Develop open quiet herding and avoid driving back to 

camp.) 
Salting. (Encourage abundant use of salt, it means easier herding, 
less danger from poison and disease, and less damage to the 
range.) 
Other stock. (When special provisions are required.) 
Fange improvements: 

(Permanent improvements in the improvement section.) 
Reseeding either with cultivated plants or by restricting grazing for 
natural reseeding, posting poisonous areas, changes or improvement 
in stock driveways, extermination of predatory animals, prevention 
of erosion by proper handling of stock. 
Policy and administration. 

General principles of policy not already covered. Protective and 

maximum limits, new owners, advisory boards, etc. 
Administration. Extermination of predatory animals, counting 
stock, or other special phases of the work. Special force re- 
quired. Costs. (Summary for use in obtaining total of forest 
expenditures in Section VII.) 



232 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

Investigations: 

Proper seasons, carrying capacity, poisonous plants, artificial reseeding, 
demonstration tests of proper utilization, effect of grazing upon 
reproduction, and most efficient systems of grazing management to 
eliminate damage. Herbarium with necessary notes. 
Map or maps, showing types, water, fenced, corrals, topography, grazing dis- 
tricts, allotments, reserved areas, driveways, or other factors or features 
which influence or illustrate the handling of the stock. 

IV. Lands 

Settlement: 

Soils. (Classification with brief description and a statement of compara- 
tive agricultural and forest value of each class based upon land 
values, forest expectation values, etc.) 
Demand for agricultural lands. Past, present, and future. 
Policy. (In I, 2, and 3 order, application of policy based upon the pre- 
ceding classification, results of past policy, service policy, and any 
other principles as a guide to examiners. Practicability of detailed 
classification of certain districts in advance of application.) 
Map, showing soil classification, if data is available. 

Uses and Easements: 
Resources. 

Demand. Past, present, and future. 

Policy. (Special features which are important by kinds of uses or ease- 
ments. Include charges compared with value to users.) 

Water-power: 

Resources. Streams, sites, power. Cost and market data and stream 
measurements. (Tabulate.) 

Demand. Past, present, and future. 

Policy. (Special features.) 
Administrative sites: 

Sites, rights of way, etc., withdrawn, or still needed and to be withdrawn. 
Include comprehensive plan of rights of way needed for future sales 
and other uses as well as sites and rights of way required in admin- 
istration. (Tabulate or show on map.) 

A dministration: 

Special force needed. Other administrative questions. 

Costs. (Summary for use in obtaining total forest expenditures in 
Section VII.) 

Investigation: 

Map or maps showing status, location of uses, easements, water-power pro- 
jects, administrative sites, etc. 

V. Protection 

Fire: (By divisions or geographical subdivisions, if advisable.) 

Liability. Statement of value of destructible resources by classes, and 

for districts or regions. 

Timber, expectation value of young growth, forage. 

Arbitrary value per acre of watershed protection. (Possible money 

damage. Tabulate.) 
Hazard or risk. Statement by types or regions based upon character of 

stand, danger of fires starting, and difficulty and cost of suppression. 

(Should be based in part upon a study of past experience.) 
Protection required. (Principles which sum up on the basis of liability 

and hazard the relative amount of protection needed in specified 

parts of the forest.) 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



233 



~° n Improvements available. By districts. (Brief description, tabulate if 
map is not sufficient.) 
Communication. Telephone, etc. 

Transportation. Railroads, roads, trails, pack trains, etc. 
Fire lines. 

Look-out stations. , 

Supplies and tools. (Distribution or how they are to be purchased, etc. 

Tabulate.) 
Cooperation. . . 

Adjoining forests, between ranger districts, State associations, cor- 
porations, individuals, etc. 
Organization and administration. 

For look-out stations and patrol. Numbers of men and duties by 

districts. (Tabulate so far as possible.) 
For fighting fires. (Tabulate if possible.) 
Regular and temporary force. 
Cooperation, labor, including users. 
Outside labor. . 

Costs. (Summary for use in obtaining total of forest expenditures 
in Section VII.) , 

Specific and detailed instructions to rangers based on the above, and 
resulting in its direct application should be issued to all forest orh- 
cers engaged in fire protection. 
Map showing types, topography, improvements, and as much ot above 
information as is possible and advisable. Copies to accompany 
letters of instruction. 

Insects: 

Extent of infestation and damage. . 

Control, administrative measures, methods. Special force needed. 

Costs. (Summary for use in obtaining total of forest expenditures 

in Section VII.) 

Other damages: 

Extent. Amount of damages. 

Control, administrative measures. (As under Insects.) 

Game: 

Policy and administrative measures. 

Investigations: 

VI. Improvements 

Improvements. Comprehensive plan of the improvements needed Loca- 
tion, brief description, estimated costs, indicate those which should be 
undertaken within the next five years. (Tabulated form.) 
Roads, trails, telephone lines; fire lines, administrative fences, stock 
fences, including the fencing of poisonous areas and bog holes, 
bridges, corrals, dwellings, other buildings, water development, 
steam improvement, dams to prevent erosion, other projects. 
Maintenance, as above. 

Policy and administration. , 

Improvement policy of the forest. (Concisely by lines of work such as 

silviculture, grazing, protection, general administration, etc.) _ 
Administrative provisions. Special force needed. Costs, exclusive ot 
the costs of individual projects. . . 

Map showing all improvements constructed and planned, with a sumcient 
amount of other data to make intelligible. 



234 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

VII. Administration 

Administrative districts. Number, area, and relative importance or amount 

of work. (Tabulate.) 
Force. Office and field and assignment. Salaries. 

Also a brief forecast of future requirements. (Tabulate.) 

Permanent, statutory. 

Semi-permanent and temporary. 
General administrative policy of forest. (General relation of important lines 

of work. Include also points not already covered; fully and briefly in 

I, 2, and 3 order.) 
Receipts and expenditures and results. By lines of work for fiscal years, past 

and estimated future. 

Administrative provisions for increasing receipts or reducing expendi- 
tures. 
Map, boundaries of administrative, or other districts. 

Appendix 

Material which should be preserved in connection with the plan, but 
which will be used infrequently in actual forest administration. 
List of species. 
Details of methods used in the collection of data, costs, and areas covered. 

(Reconnaissance.) 
Tables, growth, volume, etc., when it is reasonably certain that they will be 

used infrequently. 
Details of method for regulating yield. 
Detailed silvical discussions upon which conclusions and principles outlined 

in the plan are based, if preservation seems necessary or advisable. 
General notes upon which the conclusions in the plan were based. 
Inventory of existing improvements, if desired. (Tabulate.) 

The first attempts to determine the allowed annual cut for 
each national forest, necessarily in advance, often, of any regu- 
lar working plan, were very crude. Nevertheless, though based 
on insufficient data, the attempt recognized the fundamental 
principle of a sustained yield. 

For each national forest the annual cut has been fixed since 
1908. At first this was taken, roughly, as equal to the current 
annual increment, a crude calculation based on often faulty 
estimates and insufficient growth data, but giving at least a 
working basis. 

The allowed cut so calculated was not distributed on the 
ground, since this would have been a useless play, but instead 
a definite sale policy was drawn up for each forest by dividing 
the forest into areas where ordinary sales, i.e., of large size, 
are desirable, areas where small sales (for local industries) only 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 235 

are desirable, areas for free use of inhabitants only, and areas 
reserved as protection forest. 

This rough division of area, indicated on forest and district 
maps, was further supplemented by general notes on areas 
requiring cutting because of overmaturity, insect damage, dis- 
ease, fire, and the like. 

Minimum stumpage rates for each species and class of 
material were also fixed for each national forest so as to prevent 
the wide variation in prices obtained. 

It had been the custom to draw up special marking rules 
for each timber sale of larger size. To avoid constant repeti- 
tion these began to be combined into a set of marking rules for 
all the various forest types contained within a certain national 
forest and these rules made standard for all sales within that 
forest. 

The rules by forests were then combined into general mark- 
ing rules for the various silvical regions of the West. This 
work was completed in November, 1908, and the mimeographed 
marking rules as sent out to all forest officers represented the 
best information then available on the very important question 
of marking trees for cutting in timber sales. They have been 
revised from time to time and have been aptly supplemented 
by actual examples of properly marked areas as an ocular dem- 
onstration of how to do it. 

Although the section of reconnaissance had brought to- 
gether all the data stored in the files of the service and built 
thereon the first crude beginnings of a systematic forest organ- 
ization, further progress would have been impossible except for 
the active cooperation of the men in th^ field. Realizing the 
inadequacy of the existing estimates and the time which must 
elapse before each forest could be covered by detailed recon- 
naissance, a circular letter was sent to all the supervisors in 
the spring of 1908 requesting them to make every effort to 
correct and amend existing estimates during the approaching 
field season and to segregate the estimates by blocks (i.e., by 
watersheds), by species, and by classes of material. 



236 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

A -similar letter was sent asking the supervisors to draw up, 
each for his forest, a plan of sale policy, indicating those areas 
on which cutting should be restricted or encouraged according 
to economic and silvicultural conditions, etc. 

The first crude regulations of the cut, sale policy, and 
minimum stumpage rates were also sent to each of the six 
inspection districts and the chief inspector requested to revise 
and amplify them according to his local information. 

In the Southwestern district (No. 3), Acting Chief Inspector 
Woolsey availed himself of this splendid opportunity to draw 
up a complete, far-sighted limitation of cut and sale policy for 
each forest and for the district and also minimum stumpage 
rates by forests, species, and classes of material. His sale 
policy was by far the most complete of any prepared, the more 
so as he proceeded to determine the allowed annual cut for each 
forest, separately for saw timber and cord-wood, by Von Man- 
tel's method (see method No. 2). Crude as this method is, 
it was a marked step in advance in the regulation of cut on the 
national forests. 

When the six Western administrative districts were created 
in December, 1908, the office of management, and with it the 
section of reconnaissance, ceased to exist. So enormous had 
been the undertaken task of systematizing and controlling the 
estimates, allowed annual cut, marking rules, stumpage rates, 
and sale policy that only the foundations of a correct forest 
organization were turned over to the districts whereon to build. 

The office of silviculture in each of the districts took over 
the task and the manual of procedure in the district offices 
provided for annual revisions of the estimates, sale policy, 
allowed annual cut, minimum (later standard) stumpage rates, 
and marking rules, to be submitted by the supervisors, combined 
by the district forester and in the case of the allowed annual 
cut, forwarded by him to Washington for review by the forester 
and approval by the secretary. The limitation of annual cut 
as fixed by the secretary — based, of course, on reasons of sale 
policy— could not be exceeded without his consent. However, 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 237 

this was seldom required; for inaccessibility and competition 
with private timber restricted the bare possibility of national 
forest sales to a point far below what the forests would support. 
Thus in 191 1 the annual cut which the national forests were 
estimated to be able to sustain permanently, totalled 3,274,- 
000,000 board feet. The actual cut under both timber sales 
and free use permits was, in 1916, 665,000 M., but little over 
20 per cent of the actual yield of the forests. 



SECTION THREE 

PRESENT PROCEDURE * 



The decentralization of working plans control resulted in a 
most unequal progress in forest organization. Starting with the 
same foundations in December, 1908, there were, in matters of 
working plans, much confusion and wasted effort. This un- 
fortunate condition was relieved by the issuance, late in 191 1, 
of the forest plans section of " The National Forest Manual " f 
which restores system and purpose to the work of forest organ- 
ization and is a big step in advance towards unifying the work- 
ing-plan procedure of the various districts. | 

This has not been superseded by the National Forest 
Manual of November, 19 14. " When the National Forest Man- 
ual of 1 9 14 was issued it was decided to omit from it discussions 
of technical practice. It was felt that these subjects could 

* See " Working Plans: Past History, Present Situation, and Future Develop- 
ment " by Barrington Moore, Proc. Soc. Am. Foresters, Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 217- 
258, especially pp. 233 to 251. 

f " The National Forest Manual: Instructions to forest officers, relating 
to forest plans, forest extension, forest investigations, libraries, cooperation, 
and dendrology. Issued by the Secretary of Agriculture to take effect Novem- 
ber i, iqii." Washington, Government Printing Office, 1911. 

X This has been aided by the issuance of " Instructions for Reconnaissance 
Surveys and Maps," June 9, 1913, amended and incorporated in the " Topo- 
graphic Survey Manual" of i9i6,and of "Instructions for Intensive Timber Recon- 
naissance," April 3, 1914, amended and reissued as the " Timber Survey Manual " 
on June 3, 1916. 



238 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

best be treated in separate manuals. This accounts for so little 
space being given to the subject of working plans in that 
Manual. The reference to the ' Working Plan Manual ' was 
to a proposed manual on working plans more complete than 
any previously attempted. It has not been practicable to under- 
take the preparation of this manual up to the present time, so 
that the latest word on instructions and procedures is really 
that contained in the manual of 191 1." * 

There follows, in somewhat condensed form, the Forest 
plans portion of The National Forest Manual of 191 1: 

FOREST PLANS 

The object of the forest plan is to systematize and control 
the management of each forest upon a definite basis which shall 
represent the cumulative experience and information which the 
service has acquired. 

Three different kinds of plans, differing only in scope and 
intensity, will be used in developing the management of the 
respective forests, namely, preliminary plans, working plans, 
and annual plans. 

A preliminary plan is simply a systematic statement, pre- 
pared from the best information now available, of the resources 
of the forest, the conditions governing their use and develop- 
ment, and the administrative measures to be followed in their 
management. 

A working plan is a similar statement, more complete and 
final in character, based upon thorough investigation and accu- 
rate data, and including a definite scheme of management 
devised for a period of years. 

The annual plan is covered by the various periodic estimates 
and reports. It constitutes a periodic revision of the prelim- 
inary or working plan, together with the specific application of 
these plans to the business of the forest for the ensuing year. 

* The author is indebted for this statement to Mr. R. Y. Stuart of the Forest 
Service, in a personal letter dated April 17, 1916. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 239 

The subjects to be covered in all forest plans are: 

i. General administration. 

2. Silvicultural management. 

3. Grazing management. 

4. Permanent improvements. 

5. Forest protection. 

6. Uses of forest land. 

Each forest plan will provide for the management of a whole 
administrative unit or forest. No plan should include more 
than one forest. Where conditions in adjacent forests are sim- 
ilar, or the forests supply the same markets, these facts will be 
considered, particularly in the location of cutting area and limi- 
tation of the annual cut. Such considerations will also be 
necessary in grazing and protection. 

Where necessary, because of important market or topo- 
graphic considerations, the forest may be divided into areas, 
each of which will be managed with the idea of sustained yield. 
If necessary to assist in regulating the cut, a subdivision of the 
above areas may be made; this should be on the basis of log- 
ging units or groups of logging units, the boundaries depending 
entirely upon topography. Unnecessary divisions will not be 
made, since they complicate administration. Where possible 
the lines of administrative subdivisions and those for the tech- 
nical management of the forest will be coordinated. 

Final responsibility in the preparation of all forest plans 
rests with the supervisor. He should, in submitting the plan 
for approval, transmit any recommendations of the officer in 
direct charge of its preparation which differ materially from the 
plan as submitted. 

Since the completion of any plan is but the beginning of 
systematic management, every effort should be made to improve 
plans which have been prepared and to obtain the additional 
data needed for more efficient administration. , 



240 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

PRELIMINARY PLANS 

A preliminary plan should be prepared as soon as practicable 
on each forest from the data now available. The compilation 
of such data in the form of a definite plan of management will 
systematize and strengthen the administration of the forest and 
furnish a basis for further extension and improvement. The 
following points should be covered: 

Under "General Administration " should be given: 
i . The forest force, based upon the men required to transact 
economically the business of the forest and furnish adequate 
protection during the fire season. 

2. Division of the forest into administrative and patrol 
districts to be shown on a map. 

3. A record by classes of past receipts and expenditures and 
an estimate of future receipts and expenditures. 

Under " Silvicultural management " should be given: 

1. Divisions and subdivisions, if any, with reasons. 

2. Approximate estimates of timber by convenient, tech- 
nical, administrative, or legal subdivisions. 

3. The silvicultural systems which should be used, by types, 
and by divisions if modification of the system on different divi- 
sions is necessary. Principles to govern marking drawn from 
the best silvical data available. The object of management 
for the forest, as far as available information makes it possible, 
or for divisions, classes of material to be produced, species 
to be favored, and rotation desirable. 

4. A rough classification of the timber on the forest, or parts 
of the forest, in accordance with its age and condition, showing 
the bodies of mature timber, of thrifty timber not yet in need of 
cutting, and of young growth; together with a plan of cutting, 
showing the order in which the various areas should be 
logged. Areas of protection forest where no cutting is recom- 
mended should be indicated. The approximate periods in 
which immature stands will reach merchantable size should be 
shown. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 241 

5. Recommended limitations on the annual cut * for the 
ensuing four or five years. 

6. Data on methods of logging, accessibility of merchantable 
bodies of timber, costs of logging and manufacture, markets and 
market conditions, demand, prices, etc. 

7. The policy for the whole forest, or divisions if advisable, 
which should be followed as to sales, reservations for local 
industries, and free use, together with the opportunities for 
desirable sales. 

8. Tentative stumpage rates for the entire forest, or divi- 
sions. 

9. Improvements needed to facilitate the sale or protection 
of timber. (To be incorporated in the permanent improvement 
plan.) 

10. The approximate areas on which artificial reforestation 
will be necessary in whole or in part, together with the species, 
to be used, and, broadly, the plan to be followed during the 
ensuing four or five years, plans for nurseries, outline of desir- 
able experiments, etc. 

1 1 . The order in which the various parts of the forest should 
be covered by complete reconnaissance, f desirable silvical 
studies leading toward better management, etc. 

This part of the plan should be accompanied by a map 
showing topography in as much detail as data available will 
allow, roads, trails, forest types, age classes, if necessary, nur- 
sery sites, and areas proposed for artificial regeneration. Much 
of the other data called for may be shown either on the map or 
in concise tabulation with explanatory notes. 

Under " Grazing " the essential point is to compile all avail- 
able information on the range conditions in the forest as a basis 
for systematic range protection, development, and improve- 
ment. The following outline is intended only as a guide: 

1. Classification of grazing lands and estimates of carrying 
capacity, including: 

* I.e., determination of the cut. 
t I.e., forest surveys. 



242 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

(i) Determination of characteristic ecological types or 
groups of forage plants, each of which includes certain combina- 
tions of grasses, weeds, and browse. The types should be 
mapped on a base map of the forest. Groups containing poison- 
ous plants may demand particular attention. 

(2) Concise descriptions of each group or type including 
notes on individual species, the seasons when the plants may 
be used, the relative grazing value of the types, and the class 
of stock for which they are best suited. 

(3) A record in tabulated form of the kind and amount 
of stock at present grazed on the land, with an estimate of its 
present grazing capacity, and if overgrazed or poorly stocked 
with forage plants th6 capacity to which it may be brought by 
proper treatment. 

2. Range improvements: Map record of present and needed 
watering facilities, including wells, streams, springs, natural 
and artificial ponds and tanks, drift fences, and other improve- 
ments necessary for the best use of the range. (To be incor- 
porated in the permanent improvement plan.) 

3. The plan of management should include, with necessary 
maps, notes, and explanatory data, provision for: 

(1) The control and eradication of poisonous plants. 

(2) Improvement of overgrazed or poorly stocked areas, 
including reseeding, the use of a rotation scheme of excluding 
stock from areas for a part of the year to allow seeding of native 
plants, etc. 

(3) Fuller use of the range by the class of stock for which 
it is best suited, including areas not now used. 

(4) Exclusion or reduction of stock or the change of grazing 
seasons when necessary for silvical reasons or the protection of 
watersheds for irrigation or municipal water-supply. Reduc- 
tion to prevent overgrazing, or erosion caused by grazing. 

(5) The better handling of stock, including salting, bedding, 
the prevention of concentration to the injury of the range, 
improved herding methods, etc. 

(6) Improvement in range districts, range allotments, etc. 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 243 

(7) The extermination of predatory animals, based upon the 
kind and amount of damage done. 

(8) The extermination of prairie dogs, based upon the area 
occupied and the damage done. 

A systematic plan for the " Permanent Improvements " on the 
forest should be steadily developed, extended, and improved. 

The improvement plan will take the form of a map, and such 
additional notes as may be necessary for its proper understand- 
ing. Rough estimates of cost should be included wherever 
obtainable. The following kinds of work will be considered: 
Roads, trails, bridges, telephone lines, signal systems, perma- 
nent and temporary headquarters, pastures, look-out towers, 
fire lines, tool boxes, improvements necessary for range develop- 
ment or making timber accessible, and areas in which the 
blazing and posting of trails is urgent. 

Under " Forest protection " provision will be made for pro- 
tection against fire and insects, and the protection of nurseries 
and plantations against rodents. 

A plan for fire protection, as complete as is now practicable, 
should be formulated and put into effect on each forest. 

The fire plan will consist of a map showing detailed topog- 
raphy, forest types, all permanent improvements which will be 
of any value in fire protection, look-out points, lines of fire 
patrol, camping sites, places where assistance in fighting fire 
may be obtained, areas of particular menace and areas in 
particular need of protection, and detailed directions to rangers 
concerning fire patrol, and cooperation with other districts 
and forests. 

Under " Uses of Forest Lands " data should be collected 
showing: 

1. Sale prices of agricultural lands within or near the forest, 
including stump lands, unimproved non-timbered lands, and 
improved ranches. 

2. Cost of clearing and stumping timbered lands. 

3. Comparative value of timbered land for agricultural and 
forest purposes. 



244 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

The location of all uses which have been granted should be 
recorded on a base map of the forest. Any information secured 
as to tracts desirable for particular uses should be similarly 
recorded, especially reservoir and dam sites, as part of the 
inventory of the resources of the forest. 

The water-power possibilities of the forest, including 
stream measurements and the collection of cost and market 
data. 

All administrative sites should be shown on the improve- 
ment map of the forest. Sufficient additional data will be 
recorded to show in concrete form the system of administra- 
tive sites devised for the forest, including patrol and look-out 
stations, nurseries, and sites required for logging facilities, and 
other uses in connection with the sale of timber. 

WORKING PLANS 

A working plan is simply an extension and development of 
the preliminary plan, based upon more exact data. Such a 
plan should ultimately be prepared for every forest as the need 
for a more systematic basis of management becomes urgent. 
Reconnaissance work should, except in unusual cases, result 
in working plans. 

Working plans will be prepared first on forest where the 
demand for timber is great as compared with the supply, and 
where large quantities of timber are evidently mature and it is 
reasonably certain that sales can be made if the proper data 
are secured. It may be advisable to prepare special working 
plans for forests on which large areas are in need of reforesta- 
tion. Special grazing working plans may be prepared for forests 
where the use of forage resources is of importance. Special 
problems in any other phase of service work demanding careful 
study may require the preparation of working plans. Where 
conditions on a forest differ widely, it may be advisable to cover 
only the part of a forest to which the special administrative 
urgency applies. 

Each working plan will outline the general management of 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 245 

the forest for a long period, usually a rotation in the recommen- 
dations on timber cuttings, and the management in detail for 
some such period as ten or fifteen years. 

The amount of detail in the working plan will depend upon 
the value of the forest products concerned, the need for inten- 
sive methods, and the certainty or possibility of large returns 
within the probable life of the plan. On forests or parts of 
forests where the demand for timber equals or exceeds the 
amount which can be cut with safety, the plan for silvi- 
cultural management must be in much greater detail than 
where the demand is comparatively small. The requirements 
of detail in the different parts of the plan and in different work- 
ing units must be adjusted to the administrative needs of the 
forest in all lines of work. 

When it has been decided to make a working plan, its 
essential features and the field-work necessary should be out- 
lined at a conference between the officer who will have charge 
of the field-work, the supervisor of the forest, the assistant 
district foresters concerned, and the district forester at his dis- 
cretion. It is particularly necessary that the general system 
or systems of management be determined, and the methods 
for determining the yield of each unit be decided upon. Plans 
may then be made to secure the exact data needed and un- 
necessary work eliminated. The preliminary plan for the forest 
and working plans already prepared will form the basts for this 
discussion. 

Field data will in general be obtained by special parties, 
which as far as possible should consist of experienced men. As 
far as possible, the data for all parts of the plan will be col- 
lected at the same time, if necessary by specialists temporarily 
assigned to the party. The data for planting or grazing fea- 
tures may be collected independently when the need justifies 
it. The work will be done under the direction of the super- 
visor. 

As far as possible all data in the working-plan report will be 
tabulated with brief notes of necessary explanation. While 



246 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

working plans must be complete, every possible effort will be 
made to eliminate unnecessary discussion and to put them in 
concise form. All detailed data relating to climate, geology, 
soil, growth studies, silvical notes, etc., should be placed in the 
appendix of the working plan, and everything in the plan 
subordinated to the actual scheme of management for the 
forest. 

Working plans will be approved by the forester. 

The general ground to be covered by working plans is as 
follows : 

Under " General Administration " the topics listed for pre- 
liminary plans should be discussed with such further detail as 
more intensive study makes possible. 

Under " Silvicultural management " the topics listed for pre- 
liminary plans should be developed with much greater accu- 
racy and in much greater detail. 

To secure uniform data from the national forests in each 
district, the district forester will decide upon standard field 
methods. Standardization will include: 

i. Methods of making estimates under specified conditions 
to secure results of uniform accuracy. 

2. The unit for recording estimates in both surveyed and 
unsurveyed ground. 

3. The minimum sizes to which timber will be estimated and 
a method" of classifying reproduction and young timber below 
this minimum. 

4. A scale for field and base maps and the conditions under 
which contour or hachure maps will be made. 

5. The form and character of notes on silvicultural ques- 
tions, forest descriptions, etc. 

6. The principles upon which the silvicultural system, the 
rotation, the period for which management will be planned in 
detail, etc. 

In each district, also, to insure reasonable uniformity under 
similar conditions, a careful study will be made of the methods 
of determining the limitation of annual cut under each silvi- 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 247 

' cultural system which will be used, and standard methods 
established. 

In the completed plan the data secured under each topic 
will be summarized and the conclusions stated. The following 
points are of special importance: 

i. Silvicultural systems based on the most reliable silvical 
data available, and upon careful observations on the part of 
the working-plans officer (i.e., the forest organizer). 

2. A carefully drawn set of marking principles (marking 
rules) designed to put into effect the silvicultural systems rec- 
ommended. 

3. The maximum annual cut to be allowed during the ensu- 
ing ten or fifteen years, and the approximate cuts for each 
period of the rotation. 

4. The order in which the important bodies of merchantable 
timber should be sold. 

5. The order in which areas needing artificial restocking 
should be sowed or planted, and the acreage to be covered dur- 
ing each year of the period for which detailed recommendations 
are made. 

Under " Grazing," technical reconnaissance and special 
studies should be conducted, following the general ground 
covered under preliminary plans, but with more detail and 
greater exactness; it should be directed as far as practicable 
by grazing experts. 

The permanent improvement plan, protection plan, and plan 
for uses of forest land for the forest should be considered and 
developed as far as may be practicable in connection with the 
intensive timber estimates and other investigations conducted 
by working-plan parties. 

ANNUAL PLANS 

The annual reports, estimates, and recommendations sub- 
mitted on the various lines of forest work should be based upon 
the preliminary or working plan for the forest and should refer 



248 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 

specifically to the portions of the plan dealing with the subject 
in question. They should show how far it is feasible to apply 
the plan to the work of the forest during the current or ensuing 
year, the specific action proposed to* put its provisions into 
effect, and the changes which appear advisable. 

Annual recommendations on maximum and minimum stump- 
age prices and limitation of yearly cut should be submitted to 
the district forester. These and the planting and nursery 
reports should refer to the portion of the plan dealing with 
silvicultural management and indicate any necessary changes in 
its application. Revisions of the cutting methods advocated in 
the plan and of other features of its silvicultural management 
should be submitted whenever they appear advisable, together 
with any additional data secured on estimates, logging costs, 
market conditions, etc. 

The annual grazing report and recommendations constitute 
a concise restatement of the preliminary or working p ] an and 
its application to the business of the ensu : ng year. Additional 
data should be reported and necessary changes from the plan 
noted. 

In submitting the annual improvement estimates a copy of 
the improvement map of the forest, showing the plan as revised 
and extended to date and indicating the work of greatest urgency, 
should be furnished. 

In connection with the annual fire report, the fire plan for 
the forest should be checked over and necessary modifications 
noted. The annual planting and nursery reports should in- 
clude a current revision and application of the portions of the 
protection plan dealing with rodents. Special reports and revi- 
sions of the forest plan as regards protection from insects and 
diseases will be submitted from time to time on forests where 
this work is of importance. 

In connection with the current business and periodical 
reports relating to uses of forest land, the preliminary or working 
plan should be steadily revised and extended. 

The application of the foregoing instructions has been 



H 




THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 249 

worked out by each of the districts. The outline for the plan 
of silvicultural management, as worked out in the South- 
western district, follows: * 

The Method.— The forest management, sales regulations, 
and systematic silviculture will be carried on by means of: 

i. Card or sheet records by supervisors. 

2. Annual plan by supervisor. 

3. Maps by specialists. 

4. An appendix file by local force. 

5. Preliminary plan by specialists. 

6. Final plans. (Not to be attempted at present.) 

* See " A Proposed Method of Preparing Working Plans for National Forests," 
J. C. Kircher, For. Quart., Vol. XII, No. 2, pp. 145-157. Also " Development 
of Silvicultural Working Plans on National Forests in the Southwest," J. C. 
Kircher, Proc. Soc. Am. Fsters., Vol. X, No. 3, pp. 259-262. Also " Forest 
Service Silviculture Plans," T. S. Woolsey, Jr., Proc. Soc. Am. Fsters., Vol. 
XI, No. 1, pp. 1-16. 



OUTLINE AND INDEX 

SILVICULTURAL CHAPTER— SUPERVISOR'S 
ANNUAL PLAN, 19... 

NATIONAL FOREST 19. 



(1) General conditions : 

(a) General conditions of the Forest — areas where insect or fungus 
attacks have been noticed; damage from live stock and areas 
from which grazing should be restricted (discuss in detail) ; from 
mistletoe or other causes; discuss extent of damage and pre- 
ventative measures adopted or planned; problems presented 
by fire 

(2) Cost of handling sales (for past fiscal year) 

(a) Summary of costs for each advertised sale during past field season. 

(b) How have costs of sales administration been reduced during past 

year? Suggestions for further reductions 

(3) Limitation of cut: 

(a) Estimate of cut in timber sales, free use, settlement and trespass 

during present fiscal year, separately for green and dead saw 
timber and cord-wood 

(b) Estimate for coming fiscal year 

(c) Reasons for increase or decrease in annual cut 

(d) Recommended limitation of cut for saw timber and cord-wood for 

ensuing fiscal year for sales and free use separately 

(4) Maximum and minimum stumpage prices: 

(a) Maximum and minimum prices recommended tor ensuing year. 
(If same as for present year, simply say so.) Explain any 
changes fully 

(5) Silviculture Manual: 

(a) Recommendations for specific changes in the current Manual. . . . 

(6) Silvical report: 

(a) Subject reported upon last year by forest assistant 

(b) Subject recommended for assignment during coming field season; 

name of officer to whom it should be assigned 

250 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 251 

(7) Sowing and planting (omit until forestation is past experimental stage 

unless reports desired by Director Fort Valley Experiment 
Station) : 

(a) Reports to be submitted for all investigative or other projects. . . . 

(b) Proposed sowing and planting projects — give location, acreage, 

method of forestation, etc. If investigative projects follow 
outline prescribed under investigative projects 

(8) Timber sale policy: 

Suggested modifications of existing policy in 

(a) Marking — rules and system of cutting 

(b) Brush disposal 

(c) Contract requirements 

(d) Utilization 

(e) Miscellaneous 

(9) Seed collecting (to be submitted August 1 of each year on special sheet) : 

(a) Amount and kind of seed needed 

(b) Amount and kind of seed which is abundant 

(c) Recommendations for seed collecting 

(10) Working plan modifications: 

(a) Where a preliminary plan has been approved, recommend neces- 
sary modifications, so that it may be corrected and amended to 
conform with the requirements of the next fiscal year. (This 
should be in shape to fit into the loose lead plan) 

(11) Converting factors: 

(a) Any necessary changes in current converting factors 

(12) Free use: 

(a) Policy and specific plans 

(6) Demand 

(c) Complications which have arisen in free use administration dur- 

ing past year with recommended changes and methods 

(d) Areas closed against free use; need for additional areas with 

complete report on each 

(13) Current timber sales: 

(a) List of newspapers in which timber sale advertisements should be 
inserted during next fiscal year 

(14) Timber trespass: 

(a) Brief report on all unclosed cases of record giving action neces- 
sary to complete settlement 

(15) Common and technical names of tree species discovered on forest during 

past year and not already catalogued 

(16) Timber reconnaissance: 

(a) Required; reasons why 

(b) Costs estimated 



252 THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 



(17) New sales: 

(a) Areas which should be sold and why 

(b) Possible purchasers 

(c) Action necessary to promote sales 

(18) Protection of timber resources: 

(a) Necessary road withdrawals which were omitted when land was 

recommended under the Act of June n, 1906 

(b) Mill sites which should be withdrawn from entry under the Act 

of June 1 1 ; give location and area, and necessity for withdrawal 

(19) Stock excluded areas: 

(a) Recommendations with full explanation for timber sale areas 
from which stock of specified classes should be excluded to pre- 
vent unusual damage to reproduction. (See paragraph 6, 
Form 7710) 

(20) For each sale submit estimate of unburned slash; acres which must be 

burned (reduce fire lines to acreage basis); cost of burning per acre; 
percentage which can be disposed of by regular force; additional 
allotment required (to be submitted on September 1st of each year). 

(21) Investigative projects (to be submitted November 1st of each year): 

Special studies recommended for consideration by the District Inves- 
tigative Committee; give details of new studies recommended, i.e., 
purpose and need, showing relative importance, general scope and 
method, and probable cost 

(22) Correction of watershed or logging unit estimates on Form S 15 which 

follows , , , . , 



THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF WORKING PLANS 253 

Form S 15 (Forest and District) 

CUMULATIVE REPORT OF STAND (BY LOGGING UNITS) IN M.B.M. 



Watershed. . . . 
Logging Unit . 

Stand 19. 



District 

Forest 

Forest plan division. 
19 





Cut. 


Loss. 


Net 
Stand. 


Cut. 


Loss. 


Net 
Stand. 


Yellow pine 














Douglas fir 




White fir 




Engelmann spruce. . . . 
Miscellaneous 




Total 















To be cut per cent 

To be left per cent 

No. of cords = 

Per cent of error in estimates. 



19. 



10- 





Cut. 


Loss. 


Net 
Stand. 


Cut. 


Loss. 


Net 
Stand. 


Yellow pine 














Douglas fir 




White fir 




Engelmann spruce. . . . 




Total 



















To be cut per cent 

To be left per cent 

No. of cords = 

Per cent of error in estimates. 



INDEX 



Abnormal forests, regulation of, 137 

Administrative divisions, 42 

Administrative plan, instructions for, 240, 246 

outline for, 157, 234 
Age classes, denned, 14 

in selection forest, 14 

record of, 15 

table of, 49 

table of, in Austria, 219, 222 
Allotment methods (see period methods). 
Allowed annual cut (see regulation of cut). 

Amenagement (see working plans, practice of, in France) (syn. forest organ- 
ization). 
American method, determination of cut by, 121 
Anderson, C. R., 22 
Annual plans (see working plans, also cutting plan and planting plan). 

instructions for, in United States, 247 
Area, determination of cut by, 69 
Area table, 49 
Auhagen, 119 
Austrian formula, determination of cut by, 78, 216 

Base lines (see also timber estimates), 23 

Bentley, J., Jr., 58 

Betriebsklasse (see working group). 

Block (see also division of area), 38, 41 

Border cutting (see selection border cutting). 

Bosnia and Herzegovina, forest organization in, 216 

Breymann's method, determination of cut by, 86 

Bryant, R. C, 37 

Brush disposal, place of in working plan (see also marking rules), 151 

Bukowina, forest organization in, 216, 221 

Bureau of Forestry, 226 

Chapman, H. H., 17, 37, 68, 121 
Character index, 185 

Clearcutting with artificial reproduction (see silvicultural method of manage- 
ment). 

255 



256 INDEX 

Clearcutting with natural reproduction (see silvicultural method of manage 

ment). 
Collection of data (see forest survey). 
Compartment (see also division of area), 38 
Control and revision (see working plans, control and revision of). 
Control book, 165 

in Austria, 223 

in Prussia, 177 
Coppice, 55, 

1 with standards, 55 

Correlation of silvicultural methods and methods of determining the cut, 126 
Cotta, Heinrich, 119, 126, 194 

Coupes (see also determination of cut, in France,) 212 
Current annual increment, 3 

Cutting and logging rules, place of in working plan, 152 
Cutting and planting record (see control book). 
Cutting cycle, 69 

record of in working plan, 151 
Cutting plan, 130, 133 

annual, 136, 152 

general, 134, 152 

in Bavaria, 189 

in France, 212 

in Prussia, 173 

place of in revisions, 167 

place of in working plan, 152 
Cutting series, 132 

defined, 41 

in Saxony, 196 

Department of Agriculture, 226 

Secretary of, 237 
Determination of cut, 67 

by area, 69 

by area and volume by age classes, 108, no, 112 

by area and volume by periods, 116, 121 

by area and volume for entire forest, 106 

by volume on diameter classes, 100 

by volume on growing stock, 72, 74 

by volume on growing stock and increment, 78, 81, 85, 86, 88 

by volume on increment, 74 

in Austria, 221 

in France, 92, 209, 212 

in United States, 234 

record of in working plan, 151 

review of methods, 124 



INDEX 257 



Determination of cut, summary of methods, 67, 91 

Diameter class, denned, 14 

Diameter-class method, determination of cut by, 100 

application to America, 105 
Diameter-class record, 15 
Dimitz, L., 216 

Direct method, determination of cut by, 108 
Distribution of the age classes, 1, 14 

advantages of comparison between actual and normal, 19 

graphic comparison of actual with normal, 18, 19 

record of in working plan (see also tables), 147, 168 
Distribution of cut, 129 

in France, 211 
District Forester, 236 
Division of area, 37 

block, 38, 41 

boundaries of, 40, 42 

coincidence with administrative divisions, 42 

compartment, 38, 40 

defined, 37 

designations of, 39 

in Alsace-Lorraine, 203 

in Austria, 216 • 

in Bavaria, 182, 185 

in France, 208 

in Prussia, 174 

in Saxony, 194 

principles of, 37 

record of in working plan, 150 

subcompartment (lot), 38, 39 

working group, 38 

working unit, 38 

Eberhard, 200 

Economic rotations (see rotation). 

Eldredge, I. F., 143 

Endres, 61, 62 

Estimates (see timber estimates). 

Felling age, 58 

Felling budget (see cutting plan); in France, 212 

Fernow. B. E., 6, 61, 62 

Final cutting (see shelterwood method) . 

Financial rotations (see rotation). 

Fire plan (see forest protection plan). 

Fischer, 13 



258 INDEX 

Flury, 9, 10, n 
Forest description, 29 

in Alsace-Lorraine, 204 

in Austria, 218, 220 

in France, 209 

outline for, 29 

record of in working plan, 149 

unit of, 32 
Forest management, denned, xiii 
Forest organization 

control of, in Austria, 216 

in Bavaria, 191 

in Prussia, 176 

in Saxony, 194 

in United States, 228, 236, 237, 245, 248 
definition of, xiii 
Forest organizer (see forest organization). 
Forest plan, see Introduction, xiii 

section of National Forest Manual, 237 

instructions in, 238 et seq. 

issued, 237 
Forest protection plan, instructions for, 239, 243, 247, 248 

outline for, 157, 232 
Forest regulation, xiii (syn. forest organization). 
Forest rent (see financial rotations). 
Forest Service, 27, 39, 226 
Forest survey, 20 

Formula methods (see determination of cut). 
Forsteinrichtung (syn. forest organization, which see). 
French method, determination of cut by, 92 
Frey, 126 



Gayer, C, 57 

Graves, Henry S., 3 

Grazing management, plan of, instructions for, 239, 241, 247, 248 

outline for, 157, 231 
Greeley, W. B., 139 

Group method (see clearcutting with natural reproduction). 
Group selection method (see selection method). 
Growing stock, actual, 6 

in working plan, 147 

normal, 1, 2, 7 
Guise, C. H., 138 
Gurnaud, 106 
Guzman, E., 221 



INDEX 259 



Hammatt, R. F., 27 

Hanzlik, E. J., 8 

Hartig, G. L., 118, 124, 172 

Heyer's method, determination of cut by, 88 

application to America, 90 

Heyer, Carl, 90 

Heyer, Gustav, 90 

use in Alsace-Lorraine, 205 

use in Baden, 199, 201 
High forest, defined, 55 
Hufnagl's method of determining cut, 100, 108, no 

by age classes, 108, no 

by diameter classes, 100 

formula for determining the cut, no 
application to America, in 
Huffel, 207 
Hundeshagen's method, determination of cut by, 85 

Illick, J. S., 42 
Increment, borer, use of, 4 

current annual, 3 

defined, 3 

determination of, 3 

determination of cut by, 74 

importance of, 67 

mean annual, 3 

normal, 3 

periodic annual, 3 

price, 3 

quality, 3 

record of in working plan, 147 

volume, 3 
Index, per cent, 195 

Indian method, determination of cut by, 98 
Irish, E. J., 80 

Jagen, 39 (see also working-plans practise, Prussia). 
Judeich, Friedrich, 79, 84, 85, 89, 112 

Kameraltaxe (see Austrian formula). 
Karl's method, determination of cut by, 81 
Kircher, J. C, 249 
Kirkland, B. P., 138, 139 

Limitation of annual cut (see regulation of cut). 
Logging and milling, methods and costs, outline for, 33 



260 INDEX 

Logging conditions, outline for summary of, 37 
Logging unit (see also block), 41, 54 
Lorey, T., 57, 84, 89, 120, 173 
Lot (see subcompartment). 

Management, class (see working group), 
object of, S3, 54 
record of in working plan, 150, 156 

silvicultural, xiii 

silvicultural, method of, 53, 55 

correlation with methods of determining cut, 1 26 
record of in working plan, 150, 156 
Manual of procedure, 236 
Maps and tables (see also tables), 42 

in working plan, 147 

of stands to be cut (see also cutting plan), 131 

sample sketch map, 44, 45 
Margolin, L., 25 

Markets, influence of on sustained yield, 53 
Market unit (see also working unit), 54 
Marking rules, place of in working plan, 151, 247 

general, 235 
Martin, Heinrich, 67, 79, 84, 120 
Mason, G. Z., 27 

Masson, Methode de, determination of cut by, 3, 74 
McCarthy, W. J., 8 
Mean annual increment, 3 
Meinecke, E. P., 64 

Methode de 1883 (see French method), determination of cut by, 92 
Methode du controle, determination of cut by, 106 
Method of treatment, determination of, 53 
Moore, Barrington, 78, 92, 98, 226, 227, 237 
Munger, T. T., 12 
Muret, 106 

National forest manual, 237 
National forests, 226, 227, 234 
New reconnaissance, the, 227 
Normal age class distribution, 1 
Normal forest, defined, 1 
Normal growing stock, 1 
Normal increment, 1 

Office of forest management, 227, 236 
Office of silviculture, 236 
Organization (see forest organization). 



INDEX 261 

Paulsen (see also Hundeshagen). 86 

Period methods, determination of cut by, 116 

area-period method (syn. area framework, " flachenfachwerk "), 117 
area-and-volume-period method (syn. combined framework, " kombiniertes 
fachwerk "), 119 

in Alsace-Lorraine, 204 

in Austria, 221 

in Baden, 199 

in Bavaria, 181 

in France, 209 

in Prussia, 172 

in Saxony, 194 

in Wiirttemberg, 197 
volume-period method (syn. volume framework, " Massenfachwerk "), 118 
Period of reproduction, record of in working plan (see also method of manage- 
ment, silvicultural), 151 
Periodic annual increment, 3 
Permanent improvement plan, instructions for, 239, 243, 247, 248 

outline for, 157. 233 
Planting plan, 159 

annual, 160, 162 

general, 160, 161 

place of in revisions, 166 

place of in working plan, 157 
Preliminary plans, in Austria (Bukowina), 216 

in United States, 240 
Preparatory cuttings (see shelterwood method). 
Pressler's formula, use of, 4, 76 
Price increment, 3 
Prussia, practice of working plans in, 171 

Reconnaissance (see forest survey and timber estimates). 

defined, 20 

estimates, method of, 26 

section of, 227, 235, 236 
Regulation, in selection forest, Alsace-Lorraine, 205 

in special cases, 137 

of transition forests, 139 

of turpentine forests, 142 

of wood-lots, 141 

of cut, defined, 66 

record of in working plan, 151, 157, 250 

unit of, 53 
Removal cuttings (see shelterwood method). 
Reproduction period (see period of reproduction). 
Reserve seed tree method (see seed tree method). 



262 INDEX 

Reserve tree method (see reserve seed tree method). 
Revisions (see working plans, control and revision of). 

in Alsace-Lorraine, 206 

in Austria, 222 

in Baden, 199 

in Bavaria, 190 

in Prussia, 179 

in Saxony, 196 
Rotation, 53, 58 

choice of, 63 

defined, 58 

economic rotations, 59 

financial rotations, 61 

in Austria, 222 

in Bavaria, 186 

in Prussia, 175 

record of in working plan, 151 

technical rotations, 59 
Roth, F., 19, 28, 37, 39, 42, 55, 58, 61, 62, 65, 120, 126 

Sale policy, 234, 236, 251 

Schneider's formula, use of, 4, 75 

Schwappach, A., 61 

Section of reconnaissance, 227, 235, 236 

Seed cutting (see shelterwood method). 

Seed tree methods (see silvicultural method of management). 

Selection border cutting (see selection method) . 

Selection method (see silvicultural method of management). 

Shelterwood group method (see shelterwood method). 

Shelterwood method (see silvicultural method of management). 

Shelterwood strip method (see shelterwood method). 

Silvicultural management, plan of, instructions for, 239, 240, 246, 248 

outline for, 156, 229, 249 

system (see silvicultural method of management). 
Silvicultural method of management, 55 
of high forest, 56 

clearcutting with artificial reproduction, 56 

clearcutting with natural reproduction, 56 

seed tree methods, 56 

selection method, 56 

shelterwood method, 57 
Soil rent (see financial rotations). 
Stand method, determination of cut by, 112 

application to America, 116 

table (see also tables), 46, 47 
Status records, 50, 166 



INDEX 263 



Stock table (see also tables), 46, 48 

Strip method (see clearcutting with natural reproduction). 

Strip surveys (see also timber estimates), 24 

Strzeleckis, 13 

Stuart, R. Y., 238 

Stumpage rates, minimum, 235, 236 

place of in working plan, 152, 250 

outline for appraisal of, 37 

standard, 236 
Subcompartment (see also division of area), 38, 39 
Subdivisions of a forest (see also division of area), 38 
Survey of area (see also forest survey), 21 
Sustained yield, application of, 53 

defined, xiv 

relation to increment, 67 

total for national forests, 237 
Swiss method, determination of cut by, 3, 74 

Tables (see also maps and tables), 46 
age-class table, 49 

examples of, 51, 52 
area tables, 49 

general stand table, example of, 50 
in Austria, 220 
place of in working plan, 147 
instructions for tabulations, United States, 245 
stand table, 46, 47 
stock table, 46, 48 
Tassy, 208, 211 

Technical rotation (see rotation). 
Timber estimates, 22 
base lines, 23 
cost of, 28 
in Austria, 218 
in Bavaria, 184 
in United States, 228, 253 
ocular estimates (see also reconnaissance), 26 
requisites, 22 
size of crew, 24 
the strips, 24 
time of, 27 
Timber Survey Manual, 237 
Topographic Survey Manual, 237 
Toumey, J. W., 160 
Transition forest, regulation of, 139 
Turpentine forest, regulation of, 142 



264 INDEX 

Unit of regulation, 53 

Use per cent (see Hundeshagen's method). 

Uses of forest land, instructions for, 259, 243, 247, 248 

outline for plan of, 158, 232 
Utilization, record of in working plan, 253 

Volume increment, 3 

Volume rate per cent, 201 

Von Grebe, 119 

Von Klipstein, 119 

Von Mantel's method, determination of cut by, 3, 72, 2?6 

Von Stockhausen, 119 

Wagner, C, 173 

Ward, K. O., 106 

Wirtschaftsganzes (see working unit). 

Wood-lots, regulation of, 141 

Woolsey, T. S., Jr., 207, 213, 236, 249 

Working block (see working group). 

Working circle (see working group). 

Working group, 38 

Working period, 152, 164, 245 

Working plans 

conference, 21, 167, 192 

record of in plan, 146, 156, 167, 245 
control and revision of, 164 
defined, xiii 
documents, 144 

contents and form, 144 
foundations of, 1 
outlines for, 152 

American outline, suggested, 155 
administrative plan, 157 
appendix, contents of, 158 
forest protection plan, 157 
foundation, 156 
grazing plan, 157 
maps, 156 
orientation, 155 

permanent improvement plan, 157 
recommendation, 156 
regulation, 157 
uses of forest land, 158 
Forest service outline, 228 
Prussian outline, 153 
Saxon outline, 154 



INDEX 265 



Working plans (con.) 
practice of, 171 

in Alsace-Lorraine, 202 

in America, 226 

instructions for, 238 

in Austria, 213 

in Baden, 198 

in Bavaria, 181 

in France, 207 

in Prussia, 17 1 

in Saxony, 193 

in Wurttemberg, 197 

resume of, in Europe, 224 
scope of, xiii 
sphere of, xiv 
Working Plan Manual, 238 
Working plans officer (see forest organizer). 
Working plan unit (see working unit). 
Working section (see working group). 
Working unit, 38, 53, 245 

Yield, defined, 66 
Yield tables, defined, 4 

use of in estimating, 28 



■ m & • v. 

■y I ■ TV /I 




- 
■ 

•nSHI 

■ 

■ I 



.,'.V< 






\*:'< : ';;V. 



isff 






HI 991 H 

■ 

■ 



I 



9 ■ 




■ 

Si* I 



■^Bl 







* 






■ ■ 






■ 

' H 

■ 

■ 
■ 

H 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



0000^231043 



#* 



